Talon
by Moonview
Summary: Dick Grayson lost more than his parents during his first few weeks in Gotham City, he lost his little brother, Daniel Grayson, who just vanished off the face of the Earth without a trace. He's spent years searching for him, but when a new assassin arrives, he'll have to acknowledge old rumors that haunted him and the circus when he was a child.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**A/N: yay, another Danny is Dick's brother stories! I've finally gotten around to writing one. Now, I know this is a common trope—actually I'm using quite a few common tropes here—but I can see why they're so popular, so don't judge me. Anyways, mine was partially inspired by curry-lama's ****_Unspoken_**** and a variety of other sources and ideas that I've just kinda combined into this wonderful fic. I also like to think this story of mine is going to have its own little spin on the concept—but hey, every author does. I'd love to know what y'all think.**

**As for the Romani language I'm using Romanian for those curious.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Anyways, I don't own Young Justice or Danny Phantom and I hope y'all enjoy.**

Dick Grayson slowly climbed out of bed, wincing as the old metal frame creaked loudly under him. Blue eyes flickered across the room, settling on the small form lying across on a similar, old, springy, rusty bed that seemed even too big for the small five-year-old lying in it.

Creeping over to their shared closet, the eight-year-old slipped on a pair to tennis shoes two sizes too big and an old ratty sweater. So far, from what he'd heard on the news, no one was doing anything to solve their parent's murder. So he was going to do it.

He would find the scary guy who threatened the circus and tell the cops.

"D'ck?"

Turning around, the boy's eyes widened as his little brother sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly with one hand, and tightly clutching his stuffed dog Cujo in the other.

"Unde te duci [Where are you going]?"

His brother didn't need to know about this. It was his job to look out for him now, and he wasn't going to rest while the man who took their parents away was out there. "Catre baie. Mă întorc curând, mă întorc la culcare Danny. [To the bathroom. I'll be back soon, go back to bed, Danny]"

"Nu vreau să fiu singur [I don't want to be alone]!" the small child protested climbing out of bed, clutching the stuffed animal tightly. "Ce se întâmplă dacă nu te întorci ca Mami și Tati [What if you don't come back like Mommy and Daddy]?!"

"Voi reveni, promit [I'll be right back, promise]," quickly going to his bed, he grabbed his own stuffed animal off. "Aici ia Zitka, ea te va supraveghea în timp ce eu sunt plecat [Here take Zitka, she'll watch you while I'm gone]."

His little brother pouted for a moment, reluctantly taking the stuffed toy and climbing back onto the bed. "Promite-ți că te vei întoarce [Promise you'll be back]?"

"Promisiune."

Albeit reluctantly, Dick sighed in relief as Danny went back to bed. Opening the door to the small room the brothers shared, he closed it behind him and made his way to the window, climbing out onto the fire escape.

He had a bad guy to find.

-.-

"What were you thinking?" The young Grayson shrunk, avoiding the scolding glare of Gotham's infamous Dark Knight. There was a sigh and the imposing hero crouched down, an unreadble frown on his face. "Are you hurt?"

Dick shook his head, covering the scrape on his elbow. The bad guy's goons had spotted him and planned on using him as a hostage. Who was he to think he could catch a bad guy?

"Let me see." Batman gently took his hand, rolling up the sleeve. The boy shivered at Gotham's cold air, he'd been foolish thinking a sweater would keep him warm. The man's expression didn't change as he examined the injury, but before Dick knew it his arm was cleaned and bandaged. "Where's your brother?"

"Back at the orphanage."

The Dark Knight nodded, standing up still holding Dick's hand. "Let's get you back. I'm sure he's worried about you."

Dick nodded, letting the man lead him to the Batmobile with wide eyes. Danny wouldn't believe this. Batman had always been his favorite. At least telling him about the Batmobile would earn him some forgiveness for being gone so long.

His baby brother was shocking vengeful for a five-year-old.

The ride back to the orphanage was silent. The Batman didn't speak a single word on the drive back, he didn't even have on music; and Dick, he was too nervous to break the tense silence. The dark vehicle pulled to a stop and the doors opened, allowing the passengers to step out.

"I assume you got out through the window up there?"

Dick looked up, smiling shyly as he saw the open window from when he left. "Yeah…"

The small boy yelped as Batman picked him up, and he felt cold wind brushing through his hair as they flew up. The Dark Knight landed silently on the metal fire escape, putting a device of some sort back in his belt.

"I trust you won't go sneaking off again after this?"

Dick shook his head. After tonight, there was no way he was doing that again.

Batman nodded after a moment, and Dick crawled back through the window. Turning around, he found the window closed and the Bat gone. Pressing his face up to the window, he tried looking down for the batmobile, but it wasn't there either. Where'd he go?

Pouting in disappointment, Dick went back to his room. Opening the door, his heart stopped.

The small window in their room was open, and Danny was gone. The only sign he'd even been there lying in the forms of two stuffed animals on the floor.


	2. Bird in the Rafters

Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Back for the 1****st**** real chapter of this story. Thanks to all those who followed and favorited and reviewed, loved seeing that. TBH I was kinda nervous about posting this idea and did it in a caffeine-induced haze around 1am cause midterms are a thing.**

**Remember, I don't own YJ or DP.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is vid-comm."**

**_Telepathy/flashabcks_**

**Present Day. Malina Island, January 6, 7:10EST**

"We have arrived with the final shipment of Krolotans."

**"Congratulations my son,"** Black Manta spoke as the young lieutenant removed his helmet.

"Thank you father," Kaldur'ahm spoke calmly. "Initiating Phase Two."

**"Good. Proceed."**

The comm-channel closed and Kaldur stood up, walking off his craft. Around him the Krolotans mulled about, making hasty work to finish their new ship so they could leave. Not that it would matter by the end of the next phase.

Looking up, Kaldur's gaze trailed slowly over the shadowed beams high above until he spotted a small figure crouched near the edge. In fact, if Kaldur hadn't known who'd he'd been looking for, he would've missed him. The former hero would admit, the shadowed figure's skill rivalled, if not surpassed an old friend of his; he was just grateful they didn't share the same cackle. It was probably why the bosses had assigned them together in the first place.

Clearing his throat, he felt piercing blues turn their attention to him. The small form stood up, leaping across several beams before just dropping down from the ceiling. The impact was nearly soundless as the young assassin, tucked and rolled back to his feet, standing right across from Kaldur'ahm.

"Talon," he greeted curtly and the young man nodded, his black bangs shifting over his eyes for a moment as he returned the greeting silently. Motioning with his head, Kaldur and Talon walked back onto the Mantasub, the door closing behind them. "I trust everything has been going according to plan?"

The assassin nodded again, still remaining silent.

"And…your task?"

A voice too cold for the young teen who owned it spoke up, "They suspect nothing. As far as the targets are concerned the setbacks are merely result of faulty equipment."

Kladur nodded, taking a breath. "Good work."

Cold blues met his own and Kaldur refrained from shivering. It was hard to believe those eyes belonged to a teenager just around Dick's age when they first started the Team. "I take it you're not here to merely discuss pleasantries. What're the orders?"

He nodded, Talon was straight to business as usual. "Phase two is a go. You know what to do."

Talon inclined his head in understanding before turning on his heel and striding away to go set the bomb. Exiting the sub, the young assassin tossed a sharp glare at one or two of the targets who were too curious for their own good, making them yelp and scramble away.

The teen slipped behind a crate and dove into the hidden tunnel. Sliding down, he rolled back to his feet and walked over to a bag. Quickly grabbing the zipper, he opened the bag, revealing the bomb inside. The assassin pulled it out, setting in in the center of the chamber, where it would cause the most damage later when the League inevitably arrived.

Swiftly typing a code onto his glove, a red light activated. The bomb was primed and ready to go. All Manta needed to do was start the countdown.

-.-

**20:22EST**

"Remember, this is primarily a recon mission," Batman reminded as the Bioship flew over the ocean towards their destination. "We want to discover all we can about the Krolotans' invasion strategy, before we shut them down and deliver them to the Green Lantern corp."

"Approaching Drop Zone Beta," Nightwing stated, willing the ship to open a porthole for Aquaman and Lagoon Boy. The two Atlanteans let go of their handles, quickly leaping off into the water to approach from below.

Closing the port, Dick began to drive the ship towards the beach, watching out warily. They weren't sure what kind of traps were on this island. And even with camouflage mode, there were still other ways to be caught.

"Drop Zone Gamma," he said standing up with the rest of his family.

Hopping out of the Bioship the Batclan swiftly moved through the island's jungle, coming upon a door with several guards.

Needless to say, getting in was asterous.

-.-

"All sectors report status," Kaldur ordered.

/Sector one, secure/

/Sector two, secure/

/…Sector four, secure/

"Sector three, report status," he demanded. "Sector three, report." Getting no answer, he stood up, putting his helmet on. "Talon, it appears we have company."

High above, the assassin watched the three young trainees of the Batman. Talon narrowed his eyes, the Court had always told him how the Bats interfered with the balance of Gotham. And while they were necessary for managing the lesser muck, it was quite irksome when they got in the way of the Court.

He sized up his opponents based on what he'd seen and learned.

The Boy Wonder, the newest member of the clan after the death of his predecessor. He was smart, agile, and a decent fighter. He would be difficult, but not impossible, especially if he never saw him coming. The bird had a tendency to overthink, another weakness he could play to his advantage if used the right way.

Batgirl, a fair fighter, but not quite as strong as her male compatriots. She relied a little more on distractions than the others. Something he was trained to handle.

Talon's gaze shifted to the eldest of the group, Batman's first apprentice. He would be a challenge, he'd been doing almost as long as Talon had been. Not to mention they had very similar fighting styles. Talon scowled, he wouldn't lose to this traitor. He should've been honored to work for the Court, instead, he abandoned them and joined the Bat. Talon at least got to take his place, there's nowhere else he'd rather be than serving under the Court.

Blaster fire came from Manta and Talon grabbed a knife, preparing to strike. Below him, he watched two of Manta's men turn to Robin and begin firing as the boy dodged. Spotting movement, Talon watched as the Batman appeared on a beam a little blow his own. The Dark Knight leapt down, landing on one man, and kicking the other aside. Turning to face his incoming opponents, Nightwing and Batgirl struck, quickly leaping up from a platform below and knocking them off.

It wasn't very long before the Batclan began to split up. Robin moved first, going after soldiers on a higher platform. Below him, Batgirl was vaulted up by the traitor, spin-kicking tow men before going after the others. And the Bat himself had gone even further down.

Now was his chance.

Talon lunged from his hiding spot, throwing several daggers towards the Boy Wonder.

Bruce had always said to trust your gut, when they'd been training. And his gut was telling him to move. Leaping out of the way, Tim whirled around holding his staff up as several daggers embedded themselves into the catwalk.

Their apparent sender, landed almost soundlessly a moment later. He was clad in black and gold armor with markings that reminded him of feathers, a mask covered the lower half of his face, covering everything from the nose down. The apparent assassin, grabbed two more knives, lunging at him for a swift attack.

/Manta to all troopers, endgame enabled, strategic retreat to Manta-Flier. You have four minutes/

On a platform below, Dick growled as he saw Manta and his men beginning to retreat. "Nightwing to Cave, enermy is attempting to retreat, requesting backup!" Ducking under blaster fire, he sprung off the ground to the wall and vaulted off it into the first soldier before using his nightstick to knock the next man off the catwalk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move and Dick began to turn only to get slammed back by Tim. Rolling over each other, Dick was about to scold his adoptive brother when he saw a foot swinging down towards him.

Raising his arms, Nightwing pushed him back, watching as the new opponent easily use the momentum to move into several back-handsprings before stopping on the other side and pulling out two more knives from his apparently vast arsenal.

With a silent signal to Tim, the current Robin took off to handle other opponents, leaving him with the newcomer. Dick moved first, swinging a fist at the teen. The boy ducked aside, grabbing his arm with a grip too strong to be human. Nightwing was thrown off the platform a mere moment later. Reaching out, he grabbed a railing and swung himself back up onto another walkway as the teen swung down towards him. Springing back, he tossed a batarang his way.

Hearing the beeping, the teen's eyes widened a fraction before he flipped off the railing and down to the ground. He grabbed another support beam and expertly used it like the uneven bars to leap to the next one. With a final flourish, the teen flipped off and held out his blades as he stood next to Kaldur.

"Definitely a gymnast," Dick muttered to himself and he leapt off.

"None of us wanted to believe _this_!" Conner exclaimed. "How could you betray us?!"

"You question me? After all of you let Tula die?!" his old friend snarled using his waterbearers to from two swords.

It was time to speak up. "Kaldur that was a mission! Aquagirl knew the risks," Nightwing spoke up.

"NEPTUNE'S BEARD!" La'Gaan exclaimed. "Stop coddling this traitor! He's joined forces with our king's greatest enemy!"

"You mean the king who hid from me the truth about my father?" Kaldur hissed.

"That was my error in judgement Kladur'ahm. Don't make others suffer for my mistakes."

"All will suffer if Black Manta decrees it, blood is thicker than seawater," Kladur snarled firing a missile at the group. One which Superman stepped in to block.

Smoke erupted from the explosion and Talon and Manta used the cover to dive down to the bomb chamber where they had a getaway waiting.

"Kaldur," Nightwing spoke up watchin as the young assassin raised his blades.

"Stand down Talon, this is between old friends," Kaldur mocked.

"Make that a three-way special," Conner growled joining them.

"Fine," he said standing down. "You can attempt to stop Talon and I from escaping, or you can stop this bomb," he motioned to the weapon on the wall. "I am told the yield is quite impressive."

Superboy roared and ran at Kaldur raising his fist. Only he didn't expect Talon to get in the way. The assassin grabbed his arm vaulted up onto Conner, wrapping his legs around his neck before using his momentum and bodyweight to forcefully shove the clone into the ground before he rolled off.

"You have two minutes," Kladur said before racing to the water, the assassin trailing behind him.

Dick grit his teeth, this was so not according to plan. So much for the mission being asterous. "We have a bomb down here, alien tech, I cannot disarm."

"I'll get it out," Conner volunteered.

"No! It might be rigged by pressure or movement all squads evacuate the Bioship now!"

-.-

"The Court won't be pleased."

Kaldur turned around, coming face to face with Talon as the young man stood behind him. It was odd, this was the first time he'd ever initiated conversation. "Eliminating the Krolotans was part of the plan from the beginning."

"I am aware. But I was seen."

He nodded, he'd forgotten about that little stipulation of their partnership. The Parliament of Owls didn't agree to send one of their best and most loyal Talons without some conditions: don't lose him and don't let him be seen by the League. After all the Gray Son was still young, he could still be swayed away.

At least, that's what Kaldur hoped. After all, this all was just an elaborate show he had to put up for a little longer.

-.-

**Gotham, January 20, 13:23EST**

Dick sat in his old room. It was hard to believe that Bruce was about to leave to go clear his name, not that he blamed him, he wanted his adoptive father's name clear too, but…there was a risk he wouldn't see him again.

The young man sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was nineteen for Pete's sakes and here he was worrying about Bruce like he was eight again. He was _the Batman;_ he was more the capable of handling himself. And yet, he still worried.

Who could blame him though, his history with family wasn't exactly the best. There was his parents, Jason, and…he looked at the stuffed green dog lying by his old elephant Zitka. He already lost two little brothers and one set of parents, he wasn't sure if he could handle losing anyone else.

Reaching out, he gently grabbed the plush dog, its fur feeling worn down from years of wear. Ten years, it's been almost ten years since Danny disappeared from the orphanage bedroom. He'd be what? Almost fourteen now? What would he do in the given situation? His baby brother had always been optimistic…at least, he used to be…

A soft knock rapped against his door and Bruce stepped in, an unreadable frown on his face as he saw what was in his ward's hand. "Dick, you need to see something."

**A/N: hey guys! As I'm sure y'all can tell this is another test induced, 1-am writing extravaganza. Now, I know this chapter's a little choppy in parts, but I determined it would be best to do it this way so I wouldn't be adding line breaks every few paragraphs in the battle. Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed, and I'll see y'all in the next chapter.**


	3. Cargo

Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Guess who's back for the next chapter! Anyways, remember, I just own the story, nothing else is mine (sadly). **

**/comms/**

**"Bold is videochat."**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**El Paso, February 18, 23:56MST**

Talon hid in the shadows waiting for a suitable target. The assassin scowled behind his mask, feeling irritated. He'd rather be anywhere else than at this stupid bus station. But, orders were orders: find a teen, someone who wouldn't be missed. He just wished the partner could collect their own test subjects so he could be doing tasks more suited to his skill set. He was a Talon, the _Gray Son_, and here he was collecting trash.

The clatter of a skateboard caught his attention. Finally, hopefully this would be something; he had to be back in Bialya in less than 48hrs for the shipment to the partner.

A teen wearing scuffed up clothes skated over, stopping right in front of the bus stop and kicking his skateboard up. Blue eyes narrowed, hopefully this would be a decent target.

The boy pulled out his phone and Talon listened. If he was calling family then he would be a bust. He'd need someone who was alone, someone no one would care to search for, someone who wouldn't be missed.

"I've had enough Jaime, I'm on the bus to Houston tonight. I'm at the depot now."

Talon smirked, a runaway.

"No, not this time."

His grin got wider, this one had made up his mind, meaning no one would be searching far and wide for this kid. After all, he was going to Houston; or at least that's what everyone would believe.

"No promises," the teen said hanging up.

Talon growled, seems like he'd have to be fast. Someone was coming to talk his target out of this.

The target turned on his heel and began walking towards where Talon was hiding. No doubt heading towards the point he agreed to meet the interferer.

Pressing himself against the wall, Talon watched as the boy walked past. He never even saw him coming.

-.-

**Qurac, February 19, 19:36UCT**

**"Investigating the bomb that destroyed the Krolotain ship is still underway and is our highest priority,"** Nightwing informed as the Bioship flew towards Bialya. **"We believe it to be of alien orgin, smuggled to Earth via Boomtube. Watchtower scans of Bialya have recorded an uptake in Boomtube activity. Alpha Squad your mission is—"**

"Sneak behind enemy lines, recon known Boomtube hotspots, and find alien tech matching the bomb!" Wondergirl interrupted. "Oh!" she tapped her symbol changing the stealth, "And don't get caught or it'll create an international incident! Right?"

Nightwing smiled, "**That about covers it."**

"Psimon?"

**"We have confirmation that Bialya's telepathic enforcer is still catatonic in a Quraci hospital after his last encounter with you,**" Nightwing replied. **"But Bialya's dictator, Queen Bee, and her daughter, Princess Desiree, are different stories. Their abilities to control, the minds of men is why Alpha is an all female squad for this mission."**

"Oh really?" Batgirl questioned leaning forwards in her seat. "And would you have needed to find a reason to justify an all male squad for a given mission?"

Nightwing's eyes widened as all the girls raised their brows questioningly. **"Uh…there's…there's no right answer for that, uh, is there?"** he sputtered **"Nightwing out."**

Batgirl chuckled as he hung up. "Queen Bee isn't the only woman who can mess with a man's mind," she remarked and they all cracked up.

-.-

**Mt. Justice**

Dick ran a hand through his hair as he ended the call with Alpha Squad. Leave it to Barbra to make him feel ridiculous. He chuckled lightly to himself, guess he kinda needed it. It's been about two weeks and he'd still gotten no further on the new assassin.

From what the Team had given him, and the knife Dick managed to snag, Bruce was able to deduce that that whoever this assassin was, he—or rather, the organization he belonged to, had been active for a _long_ time. Not as long as the Shadows from their guesswork, but long enough to have a whole book of unexplained murders to their name in Gotham, maybe globally.

It would really be a problem if the Light had a new ally that the League didn't know about. Especially from the looks of it, ones that might even be better than the Shadows. After all, they didn't even know the assassin existed, or that all those murders were connected till they fought that one at the Krolotain base.

And, it would make sense given the skill set. The assassin was highly acrobatic and he was small, he'd be able to reach places no other assassin could reach; making him able to get in and out undetected.

Of course, that's probably what bothered Nightwing the most about the assassin: his size. He was small, too small to be an adult.

He sighed, feeling glum. A kid. The assassin he fought was a frickin _kid_, probably no older than Tim or Gar. One who'd probably been taken away from his family much, much younger. After all, it took years to build up those skills.

Dick chewed the inside of his cheek. The age didn't matter right now, what mattered is that this kid could lead them to the Light's new allies, maybe give them intel. He'd have to see if Tim could recover some footage from the Krolotain base, see if he could run a facial scan to ID him.

Or…or maybe he could just ask Kaldur next time they spoke.

-.-

**Bialya, February 20, 00:12UCT**

_"The other boomtube hotspots have all been busts,"_ Batgirl stated as the group of heroines examined the heavily armed base.

_"But this one must be guarding some big deal alien stuff right?"_

_"Our job it to find that out,"_ Miss Martian confirmed. _"Batgirl, take the north hangar, I'll get the south, Bee take the middle. Wondergirl, Nightshade, hold position."_

The black and green clad heroine nodded, her short black hair bobbing slightly. Wondergirl, on the other hand, was not as willing to stay behind. _"What? Why can't I go in? Sam can keep watch."_

_"Cause you're Wonder Girl, not Stealthier Girl,"_ Bee replied.

_"And besides, our powers are of more use out here if something goes wrong,"_ Nightshade reminded, the slits of her domino mask narrowing.

_"No one's knocking your enthusiasm Cass, and if we were in a firefight there's no one I'd rather have beside me."_

_"We're trying to avoid that. Use the physic link only, the Bialyians have the tech to intercept our radios. Anything goes wrong we scatter and meet at the rendezvous point. Clear?"_

_"Clear."_

Cassie frowned as the others took off, leaving her with Nightshade. The other heroine pulled something out of her belt, dropping them into the sand. "What's that?" she whispered.

"Something that'll make our job easier," she replied stretching out a hand. Small vines began to emerge from the ground, slowly slithering through the sand. At the ends, Wonder Girl could make out flowers forming and they came over the dunes, opening up.

"What're flowers supposed to do to help us?"

Behind her mask, Sam rolled her eyes and pulled out a green tablet. "My father has some uses," she replied and the other girl's eyes widened as she saw several feeds appear around the hangars.

"Sweet."

Nightshade's head jerked up and her tablet switched to another feed, showing a truck coming in.

The two girls looked at each other, then peered over the dunes. Sure enough, there was a truck. Turning back to the feed, Nightsahde moved the flower closer as the vehicle drove by, coming to a stop in front of the hangars. The flaps of the bed cover opened, and the girls grimaced as several people came out: Mammoth, Shimmer, Devastation, Icicle Jr., and the mysterious assassin from Malina Island. The group walked towards the front, eyes widening as they saw Psimon step out.

"Shit," Nightshade cursed.

"Radio's not safe, and now psychic link's a no go," Wonder Girl grumbled. "You think your little plants can get inside and warn the others?"

"Not without being seen. Even those idiots with guns will find something odd about vines acting on their own accord."

"So we have to warn the others the hard way," Cassie sighed. "I'll warn Miss Martian. Can you make sure the rendezvous is secure?"

"I can help!"

"Like you said, they'd see your vines Nightshade, I can fly over."

Reluctantly, Nightshade yielded. As much as she hated being on the sidelines, her teammate was right. Her powers were good in a fight, not in a quick, stealthy get away. Her job would be to remain here and be back up in case anyone got caught. "Hurry."

Nodding, Wonder Girl took off, flying towards the south hangar silently over the group of villains. Landing on the roof, she gently pried the vent cover off, quickly shimmying down and peeking out into the crowded hangar. It took her a moment, but she finally spotted a familiar distortion. Dropping down, she grabbed M'gann's shoulder, putting a finger to her lips and pointing outside towards Psimon and his lackeys.

Realizing the situation, the Martian turned to her. "I've shut down our psychic link. But we need to alert the others. Where's Nightshade?"

"Ready to provide backup if needed."

Miss M nodded. "You warn Batgirl, I'll warn Bumblebee. Meet at the rendezvous point ASAP. You did good Cassie."

Smiling at the praise, she flew out the way she came peering over the edge towards the hangar where she was supposed to find Batgirl. There were several soldiers below her, but no one ever looked up.

"Who's Stealther Girl now?" she smirked silently jumping off and flying over.

On the ground, Devastation looked up as a shadow passed over her. A frown formed on her face, as far as she knew none of the members of this assigned team could fly—though she wasn't too sure about Talon. Looking up, she grit her teeth together as she saw Wonder Woman's brat flying over.

Leaping up, she snatching the teen by her ankles, hurling her into the ground. Allowing Gravity to take control, Devastation plummeted down, landing on her back and pinning the would-be spy. "SOUND THE ALERT! LOCKDOWN!"

The girl under her struggled and Devastation smirked, she was pale in comparison to her mentor. "Just who the heck are you? Wonder Baby? Wonder Brat? The Blonde Wonder?"

"Devastation, what's going on?" Jr. questioned as he and several soldiers rushed over. "Who is that?"

"She'll tell me soon enough," the woman replied putting more pressure on her arm. "But I'm betting she's not here alone."

Blue eyes narrowed and glared at her, before moving and focusing on something nearby. A smirk started to appear on Wonder Brat's own face. "You might not be wrong about that last bit."

The ground under them rumbled and Cassie used her strength to push off into he air. Turning around, she kicked Devastation away as Nightshade's plants erupted from the tarmac. The large vines turned in the air, swinging around and slamming back Icicle Jr. and his lackies.

Soldiers cried out as vines began to cover them wrapping them up. The plant-themed heroine glanced up at her and Cassie nodded wearing a wide smirk. Returning the gesture, Wonder Woman's apprentice grinned as the larger vines began to flip the vehicles.

"Let's go!" Nightshade hollered starting to run.

Flying down, Cassie took her teammate's hand lifting her up as they flew to the rendezvous point to meet the others.

Behind them, Talon growled as he used his blade to slice the remaining vines off him. How disgraceful, being caught so off guard. He took a step to follow when Psimon stuck out his arm. "Search every inch of the facility. Find the rest of them!"

Nodding, Talon whirled on his heel and raced towards the nearest hangar. Running inside, he glanced around for the best stealth entry.

It didn't take him long to pinpoint the open vent high above him.

Gritting his teeth, Talon flipped up onto the larger boxes, springing higher till he managed to jump up and use his limited gifts given to him by the Court. Ice talons formed on his fingertips, digging into the metal, allowing the assassin to quickly climb inside.

Closing his eyes, he listened.

He could hear soldiers searching outside, being infuriatingly noisy; how was he supposed to locate his prey if they were drowning them out.

Blue eyes narrowed and Talon crawled further into the vents, listening as the sounds of outside grew quieter. Then he could hear it.

"…look like Turkey stuffing on Thanksgiving," a female voice chuckled.

The next voice was much quieter, he couldn't make out much, one clearly used to stealth operations. Probably a Bat given they were in the vents.

"This was your escape route?"

A clearly female voice spoke up this time, "No. I was already inside when the psychic link went down. What's going on?"

"No idea. Let's get to the rendezvous point and find out. But not through the hangar's they're sealed up tight."

There was a grunt and Batgirl began speaking again, "I've scanned all three hangars. They're all connected to this airshaft but they're also linked to a larger area twenty meters below."

Talon cursed under his breath; curse Bats and their curiosity. Turning down the nearest tunnel, he began making the fastest way he knew to the runway; while making sure he didn't run into the Bat or her companion. He wouldn't have the mobility he preferred to fight with in this confined space.

Hopping out of the vent, his eyes narrowed as he saw the Bat running towards the runway; towards the shipment.

She'd seen too much. She couldn't be allowed to leave.

Rushing forwards as she jumped down, he landed behind her, taking the opportunity to sweep her feet out from under her. She yelped as her back slammed against the floor, but it didn't take her too long to recover. Springing up, Talon tucked under her, rolling into a handspring and pushing up as she flipped over him, his feet planting firmly on her stomach.

Batgirl's head slammed into the floor and the girl stumbled back to her feet, looking a little dazed from the attack. Baring her teeth at him, the heroine ran at him before covering her ears and screaming out in pain before collapsing.

"Excellent work Talon," Psimon praised as he stepped out.

"What do we do with the witness?" he questioned pulling out a knife.

"Now, now Talon, no need for that. Our partner may find her useful."

Putting the knife away, he stepped aside as Mammoth grabbed the interferer by her cape dragging her towards an open pod.

"Are you serious?" Ice protested. "The rest of these kids are runaways, street kids, strays; no one's gonna miss them! But a Bat Brat!"

"Batman himself if out of the picture, and if anyone else misses her, Psimon says: he just doesn't care."

Devastation chuckled wrapping an arm around the psychic. "Psimon, I like the way that pretty brain of yours thinks."

"Thank you Devastation."

Talon rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall. This was not the time nor place for workplace romances. Fortunately, it didn't last long as Psimon began dishing out orders and everyone began getting to work.

"Talon."

Standing to attention, blue eyes met the psychic's dark ones. "Yes sir?"

"Check the security feeds, I want to make sure none of those idiots missed anything."

-.-

Cassie paced in front of Nightshade and Miss M as she worried about their companions. "It's been too long! Something happened to Batgirl and Bee and it's all my fault for getting spotted!"

"Cassie, calm down, every mission takes an unexpected turn," Miss Martian reassured, "we recover and adapt."

"She's right, take her first stealth mission," Sam pointed to M'gann, "she and the rest of her squad blew the place up."

"Don't make me remind you of your first stealth mission Sam," the Martian threatened only to have the girl shrug.

"Eh, whatever. I still say my course of action was well deserved."

"At least ours hasn't gone that bad yet," Bee spoke up flying over as Wonder Girl grinned.

"BEE! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Was that really in doubt?"

"Have you seen Batgirl?"

"Captured, so we have to go now, I'll brief you all on the way. I have a plan."

-.-

Talon jumped as the alarm went off, what now?

"The plane's full, what's going on?" Icicle Jr. spoke up, sharing the young assassin's thoughts.

They all grimaced as they felt a pain in their heads, _"The Martian is here, posing a Shimmer. We engaged in psychic combat."_

_"Uh dude, you don't have a winning streak against her,"_ Ice winced.

_"I don't have to win! I just need to distract her long enough for you all to kill her!"_

As Junior replied, Talon stopped. Why would a Martian make themselves so known unless…Talon whirled on his heel as he heard the engines start up. The Bat must've gotten out. "The Plane!"

_"Mammoth, Devastation stop that plane; Junior close the hangar door, Talon kill the Martian!" _Psimon rattled out.

As the hanager doors began to close, thick vines appeared on them before the plants ripped the metal doors off cliff, allowing Wonder Girl to fly in and punch Devastation as she attempted to deal with the driver. Glancing at Mammoth, Talon growled as he saw the buffoon occupied with a small flier.

Junior could handle the distracted Martian, he needed to stop that plane from leaving with the cargo. Pulling several explosive blades out from his uniform, Talon jumped up and hurled them towards the right wing. On his other side, Mammoth finally managed to escape the tiny pest that had been bothering him. Following the small assassin's lead, he grabbed a forklift, hurling it towards the other wing.

Vines came out from the wall, wrapping around the forklift and tossing it back towards them. Talon leapt aside as Mammoth was slammed back into Devastation. He smirked, while the plant-controller was distracted by Mammoth's attack, she missed his.

His knives planted into the metal of the wing, beeping quickly before blowing up, taking the right engine with it.

The aircraft drifted towards the tunnel wall, knocking the remaining wing off. It continue to slid down the runway, right over the edge causing Nightshade to duck aside as the aircraft nearly crushed her. Seeing her flying friends dive past, she began to join their efforts to stop the plane, aiding the Martian's telekinesis and Wonder Girl's strength in stopping the plane from falling down into the canyon far below.

"I don't know how long I can hold it!" she called out.

"It's too heavy!" Cassie called up.

"Plan B's here!" M'gann exclaimed and the Bioship flew over, a claw forming on the bottom and grabbing the wrecked craft. Sending out a vine, Sam attached herself to the plane as they all flew away with another successful mission under their belts.

-.-

**Mt. Justice, February 20, 03:34EST**

"Psimon implanted mental suggestions into the minds of his doctors and nurses," Nightwing sighed running a hand through his hair, "they've been tending to an empty hospital bed for months. I'm sorry."

"It had to happen eventually."

"So, no sign of alien tech?"

"No, but what we found we strange enough," Bumblebee replied.

"Strange?" Nightshade asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm goth, I know strange. That shit was straight up out of a horror movie!"

Miss Martian ignored her teammate's bickering as she relayed the report to Nightwing. "It's clear in Shimmer's mind that Queen Bee was acting as a middle man. Delivering kidnapped humans to an unknown partner."

"We questioned all of the abductees, most were runaways, all were kidnapped after the destruction of Malina Island and the Krolotains."

"So if the Bialyians weren't kidnapping humans for the Krolotains, then who is this partner?"

Cassie sighed, "Another unanswered question."

Nightwing smiled stepping towards her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "New questions keep the investigation moving forwards. You saved lives and got each other home safe. That's a successful mission in my book. Good work Alpha."

-.-

**Bialya**

"The loss of the Cargo could have severely damaged our credibility to the partner," a young woman with long black hair wearing ornate blue clothes and jewelry. "Fortunately for the lot of you, the second shipment has already been collected. Meaning my mother will be much more forgiving since our partner will be satisfied."

Several soldiers wheeled out five more pods: a Native American boy, an Asian girl, a Hispanic boy, and two African American boys, one with a blue hat the other wearing a red beret.

"We ship them out tonight."

**A/N: hey guys! Glad to see all the reviews about it so far! I hope I can meet y'all's expectations for this story. Hope all've y'all had a great Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it; if you don't…hope your Thurdsay was fine). Anyways, I'll see y'all in the next chapter!**


	4. Cold Blooded

Chapter 3

**A/N: hey guys, back for another chapter! Once again, I don't own the characters of DP or YJ, just this story, that's about it. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy it.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Cape Canaveral, March 19, 20:59EDT**

Talon crouched in the banisters of the launch platform watching the two heroes several levels below him. As the traitor began to turn his way again, the teen pressed himself back against the beams. He couldn't afford to be seen. Not yet.

After all, he had to make sure his objective was met. The orders came from Black Manta himself. Failure was not an option; at least for him. If Kaldur failed, then so what? His objective would be complete and the bomb he smuggled onto the rocket would be useful instead of a waste of supplies.

That is if the pests below played their parts.

Peeking back out, he watched their movements carefully, noting every changing in expression as they appeared to communicate. So, the Martian was here. That would be a challenge, but he could easily handle her with fire.

He looked up, watching the sky observing for slight distortions signature to Martian camouflage. For a split second, he could make out the light of the setting sun on something above. In the air above the field. Air and land coverage likely meant that there was someone in the water as well. Leaving two viable candidates: Beast Boy or Aquaman's fishboy. They were the only ones who could remain underwater for long periods of time under intense pressure.

Talon pressed himself back against the metal, raising a hand to his comms, "Kaldur'ahm."

/Talon/ Manta's son greeted sounding rather surprised at he call. /What do I owe the pleasure?/

The assassin rolled his eyes, surely he knew that he'd call if he'd obtained pertinent information regarding the operation. "The sidekicks. Martian in the air above the field, likely in ship due to better defensive odds; indicating there may be others with her providing protection in the air. Two on the ground five floors below me, an archer and Nightwing," he spat. "This pattern indicates there is likely one or two operatives in the water as well, which could undermine our plans for the rocket."

/I see, we suspected as much. Thank you for the report Talon. Remain on standby for now/

Closing the channel, Talon looked down at the two targets below. Behind his mask, he smirked as Nightwing turned away, speaking to the archer. Not one to waste opportunity, he fired a grapple, stealthily swinging across the station under the cover of darkness, the loud buzzer of the impending launch sequence covering his landing just a floor above where his targets now stood.

"Nice to be back. Didn't realize how much I'd been missing it," the woman spoke. "Which is exactly what Wally's afraid of. He's worried the _rush_ that comes with the mask will get its hooks in and I won't give it up until my dying day."

"I know exactly what you mean," Nightwing spoke with a fond edge, making the assassin frown.

Talon…he knew that tone. It sounded familiar, but from where…He shook his head, brushing the thought aside. That didn't matter. It was likely from when he'd first been an initiate, not understanding the honor he was about to be given by being chosen as the next Talon.

/We're under attack. Arming missiles now, activating phase two as a precaution/

The teen smirked as he pulled out a set of short knives as troopers came from the waves below. They'd serve as perfect bait for his prey.

"Company," the archer spoke firing an arrow with a line to the barrier wall.

Talon rolled his eyes, they just made it too easy. As they began sliding down, he jumped, slicing through the rope with a blade before using his grapple to swing down to the ground. Rolling to his feet, he raced towards the downed duo, throwing several knives their direction.

Nightwing's eyes widened and he tackled Artemis to the side, grimacing as a blade sliced through the material covering his thigh. They rolled to their feet, holding weapons towards their attacker. Dick couldn't refrain from cursing under his breath. It was the kid again, the assassin. How'd he even get close to them without anyone noticing?

Artemis fired an arrow at him, and the boy, leapt aside, tossing a knife with disturbing accuracy, slicing the other projectile in half. With that, he threw another knife at her, making her spring back. Taking his chance, Dick lunged at the teen. Doing a jump kick, the boy ducked under it, sweeping his legs out from under the hero as soon as he landed. Nightwing sprung to his feet, blocking a stab and kneeing the kid in the chest. The teen grunted, using his other hand to try to stab him and Dick grabbed his arm, holding the boy in place.

Bright blue eyes narrowed and the boy did something that was no doubt going to hurt later. Palms pressed against his arms and eyes winded behind a domino mask as the assassin lifted the lower half of his body from the side, kicking him in the side of the head. He let go, completely caught by surprise by the unusual move. What was more surprising, was that the kid managed to land on his feet.

Yep, there was no doubt about his initial observations, this kid had definitely been an acrobat, or at least trained as one.

Artemis came to his aid, firing an arrow, forcing the teenage assassin to handspring back. Tossing another knife, Dick yelped as it sliced through another arrow, narrowly skimming by his head. That was too close.

Talon smirked as he heard Nightwing's startled yelp. Pity he hadn't killed him, but at least that traitor knew who his betters were. He'd regret not taking the mantle that he'd been given.

/The missiles have been launched. I suggest you move/

Growling that he wouldn't be able to finish his prey, Talon sprinted towards the blast barrier, quickly flipping over and off of it as he regrouped with Manta's men. They began to open fire as he joined them, no doubt aiming for the two heroes trapped on the other side as the launch alarms began to go off.

An arrow launched straight up into the air, and Talon averted his eyes from the blinding light that exploded around him. The troops gave startled cries, clearly not expecting the attack meant to play against their weakness. As they were distracted, the two heroes leapt over the barrier taking advantage of the disoriented troopers.

With a sneer, Talon hurled another blade at Nightwing as he began attacking another of their men. The hero flipped out of the way, simultaneously kicking his most recent victim back. The slits of the domino mask narrowed and he charged at him bearing his nightsticks. His expression was priceless when they were blocked by his ice blades.

The Gray Son would admit, while he wasn't fond of using his Court-given gifts in combat, they did come in handy. Twisting his forwards foot, he smirked as ice spread out under the traitor's feet, causing him to slip and fall on his back. He rolled off the ice with wide eyes, clearly trying to absorb the new information.

Talon lunged again, kicking Nightwing in the head, before swinging another of his blades, the Kevlar tearing as he narrowly dodged. A hand grabbed onto his arm, and the assassin grunted as he was flipped over Nightwing's shoulder, and slammed on the beach.

He was fortunate that the Court ensured breathing wasn't a necessity for them, otherwise the air would've been knocked from his lungs. A blue glow came to his hand, and Talon fired, forcing the hero to dodge the ice shard fired his way. Unfortunately, the archer appeared to have handled her opponents. An arrow landed in the sands in front of him with only enough time to register it before getting blasted back.

Talon grimaced as he felt the salty water lap at his burns from the explosion. But the pain would fade, he'd heal in a few minutes. Getting to his feet, he glanced at the movement from the corner of his eye and smirked. So, Kaldur'ahm had finally decided to join the party? Good, that made his task easier.

"Kaldur! You don't want to do this!" the archer exclaimed.

"I believe I do," Manta's son spoke as the water around him glew. It began to rise up behind the Atlantean, forming into the shape of an eel. The aqueous form lunged forwards, slamming into the two heroes and sending them spiraling back across the beach. Around them, all other noise was deafened by the roar of the rocket as it blasted off.

"The mission may yet succeed," Kaldur spoke and a shoulder gun popper out, firing a missile. It was followed swiftly by an arrow, that intercepted it, blocking the missile from the target.

Talon smirked behind his mask, good. The heroes played their part. Now his real assignment could begin.

He snapped back to attention as Nightwing ran at Kaldur, trying to keep him from attacking the archer. Narrowing his eyes, Talon sprang back into action. He leapt at Nightwing, growling as the hero blocked his kick, by raising an arm, and pushinh him back. Flipping in the air, he landed on his hands, getting back to his feet in time to duck under one of Nightwing's kicks. Another ice dagger formed in his hand and Talon attempted to stab him again. A kick landed on the side of his head, making the assassin somersault in order to keep from losing his balance. Raising an arm, he blocked a punch from his prey, and swung his knife again, gritting his teeth as it clashed against Nightwing's sticks.

Knowing he wouldn't get far in this stalemate, Talon jumped and vaulted off Nightwing's chest, flipping in the air and landing a few yards away as the Bat regained his balance. He looked in this direction, and Talon frowned as his opponent's eyes widened and he went pale.

"ARTEMIS!" he screamed rushing over.

Talon turned, his gaze landing on the archer now stumbling back from Kaldur, arms over her chest. Blue eyes looked to the sword in his companion's hand and Talon smirked as he took in the situation. The Bosses were going to be pleased, even if Kaldur failed the second aspect of his test. Eliminating a former friend was something that couldn't be ignored.

"Move out, the mission is a failure," Kaldur ordered and Talon looked up, watching as his bomb went off, destroying the rocket. Good, be a pity if he failed the very assignment that sent him here in the first place. "We are done here. Talon."

An object was tossed his way and Talon caught the mask, putting it over his eyes as he followed Manta's son into the water. It was time to retreat back to the flier and give his report to Manta.

Back on the beach, Nightwing slumped as Artemis still remained unresponsive. "She's dead."

-.-

**Atlantic Ocean, March 20, 00:00EDT**

Talon walked in step behind Kaldur as they boarded the primary sub, where Black Manta stood waiting. "Congratulations Kaldur'ahm. You had quite a day. Capturing the Atlantean, killing a former teammate, destroying the comm-sat."

"My crew did not destroy the comm-sat father," Kaldur spoke up. "It's rocket must've malfunctioned. Our victory was mere luck."

"I don't believe in luck," Manta replied. "Which is why I had Talon smuggle a bomb with an altitude sensor onto the shuttle days ago." Blue-green eyes widened and Kaldur turned in shock to the assassin as he removed his mask. "This was your final test: to see if you would take credit for what you had not accomplished."

"And what if I had succeeded?"

"Then another test would have been set up and Talon would've had to evaluate you again," Manta replied removing his helmet. "For it is not in success true character's revealed, but in failure. I'm quite proud of you my son." His gaze turned to Talon whom immediately snapped to attention. "Talon, perhaps you could reiterate your report for Kaldur?"

"Yes sir," he nodded. "Kaldur'ahm has demonstrated exemplary ability to follow orders and given plans as well at to adapt and adjust the plans as needed. He has also demonstrated initative for our plans in capturing new assets for the partner as well as eliminating a potential problem later down the line in the form of his former ally. Her death with throw the heroes into disarray and thus make them weaker and make them easier for us to handle in order to proceed with out plans."

"As you can guess, I'm quite pleased with Talon's report," Manta spoke. "You're ready for the next level."

-.-

**Bludhaven, 4:00EDT**

"We'll laugh about this someday," Dick whispered looking at a photo he took of himself and Artemis back in high school. Hearing the sound of a door, he closed the hologram, getting ready for whomever was entering the building. "Wally?"

"No," Kaldur growled stepping out from behind the crates to greet him.

Dick narrowed his eyes, his gaze flicking to Wally as he came around a corner with a figure wearing a hood. They came to a stop, and the hooded figure revealed herself, blond hair spilling out.

"I take it our ruse was successful?" Kaldur spoke up.

"Almost too successful," Dick replied with a frown. "The team and the League are in mourning. They may never forgive us."

"And still only we four know the secret?" Kaldur questioned.

Dick nodded, "This secret and the other; that you've been on a deep cover mission within Black Manta's organization since defecting from the Team. How'd it go on that end?"

"Successful as well," he nodded. "I've proven my loyalty to my biological father. He's moving me up the ladder, getting me closer to the Light and their unknown partner."

"Does their partner happen to involve this new assassin you're working with?" Dick questioned.

The Atlantean man raised a brow before realization came, "You mean Talon? No. They've been working with Talon's organization for a long time. As far as I know, they are called the Court of Owls."

Artemis's head perked up as the name struck a chord of familiarity. "That sounds familiar."

"It does?"

She nodded, "Dad, he used to warn my and Jade of an assassin clan in Gotham. One he happened to call the Court. He and Mom told us about them in some king of rhyme," she grumbled tapping her chin, "how did it go again? Beware the Court of Owls that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime, they watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send the talon for your head. It was something like that."

"I'll look into it," Dick nodded, pleased to finally have some sort of lead on the mysterious assassin. If he could find this group, then maybe he could figure out the kid's identity. "Kaldur, can you figure out anything about them from your end?"

"I can try, but Talon is not the most forthcoming."

"But as far as moving up the ladder, that doesn't come without a cost," Dick continued, "the comm-sat wasn't supposed to be destroyed and La'gaan definitely wasn't supposed to be captured."

"It was the only way to save his life and maintain my cover," Kaldur defended.

"I'm not blaming you," Dick said resting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I know you've been forced to make impossible decisions; like choosing between saving the Krolotains on Malina Island—"

"Or saving my friends," he finished. "I will find a way to help La'gaan. You have my word."

"So what now?" Artemis asked tightening her hold on Wally's hand.

Dick reached into a pocket, pulling out a necklace and fastening it around the archer's neck. "Uh dude, why are you giving bling to my dead girlfriend?"

"Glamour charm, courtesy of Zatanna. Physio-morphic spell I think, she said it backwards."

"Wow, you look exactly the same."

"To the four of us," Dick stated, "and only us. But to anyone else, you're an entirely different person."

"The more impressive thing is how you managed to get something so specific from Zatanna, without revealing who or what it was for," Artemis remarked.

"We have a history."

"Dog."

Kaldur check his watch, frowning as he saw a notification from Talon. "It is time."

Artemis and Wally shared a kiss, "What could go wrong?"

"Don't say that," he said as they separated.

Artemis joined Kaldur, walking out of the warehouse onto the dock. The Mantasub rose from the depts, opening a boarding ramp where Artemis saw the young assassin known as Talon waiting. "Talon, I wish for you to meet my chosen second, Amaya Gren or Tigress," Kaldur spoke. "Amaya, this is Talon. I'll leave you two to get acquainted."

Artemis swallowed her nerves as she looked to the teenager. She had to admit, she used to have nightmares about the Court of Owls when she was a kid, now seeing a real Talon she felt…sad. This assassin was a kid, younger than Jade had been when she started the job. Even as cruel as their father could be, he wouldn't allow them into the field at this age.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Talon, or is there another name I could refer to you off mission?" she gave the boy a small smile, hoping that would at least make a good impression.

"Gray Son works as well," he spoke coolly.

Artemis barely refrained from frowning at the odd name. She looked the teen over closer, he was small, wry, thick black hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. If she didn't know any better, she would say she was looking at Dick when he was Robin again. But that couldn't be right, Dick didn't have a brother…not that she knew of at least. But she couldn't ignore the similarities, especially with that name.

"So is Grayson your name?" she pried.

Blue eyes glanced away, and the assassin shifted, clearly uncertain how to follow the line of questioning. "It's a title, I guess, but if it would ease you—since we will be working together—my name is Danny."


	5. Just Out of Reach

Chapter 4

**A/N: hey guys Merry Christmas! Glad to see y'all back for the next chapter of our tale. Remember, I just own the story, the characters aren't mine (sadly).**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Gulf of Mexico, March 23, 16:03EDT**

"How can you stand to look in the mirror? Atlantis? King Orin? The Team?" La'Gaan growled glaring through the bars of his cell towards Kaldur and the assassin standing beside him. "You've betrayed us all. Neptune's beard! I can't believe I once idolized you!"

The door opened and Black Manta strode in barely tossing the prisoner a glance as he approached his son. "Why is this prisoner still aboard? Should he not be delivered at once to our partner? Prepare a pod."

"I will handle it personally father," Kaldur nodded.

"Negative, I have other duties for you my son."

"You're not his son! You're his errand boy!"

Kaldur stretched out a hand as Talon stepped forwards to reprimand Lagoon Boy, "I am aware of my place in the larger picture La'Gaan," he said jamming a sedative into him, "are you?"

"I'm so…getting you back for this…chum."

The Atlantean collapsed to the ground and they opened the cell. Two soldiers hoisted the teen up, shoving him into a pod and wheeling him off to the partner.

Manta reached out, resting a hand on his son's shoulder, "Kaldur'ahm, you should know that my faith in you is absolute, but others require…further proof of loyalty."

"You have my word father, I will do whatever it takes to enter the Light."

-.-

Tigress sat at her station as the Mantaflier detached from the main sub, every now and then she'd toss a glance towards the assassin sitting to her right at his own station. So far, in the past three days she'd gotten almost nowhere in making friends with Talon. The teen was quiet, he often didn't speak unless he was spoke to and he tended to be rather reclusive.

She did learn he was fourteen, he often spoke Romanian when he was frustrated, was often hiding in small areas when he couldn't be found, and he was terrifying. Artemis could easily say that the boy would be a serious challenge for her to fight.

"Brother Tommy, I think we're plum-crazy to throw in with this feller," Tuppence drawled, "I mean it wasn't two years ago, Aqualad here was trying to lock us back up in Belle Reve."

"Well Sister Tuppence, folks say he had a change in heart after finding out who his pappy is."

Icicle Jr left his station to join the conversation, "Well I heard he switched sides cause of some girl," he snickered kneeling beside the female twin, "Which I totally get, ya know, if it's the right girl."

"Step back Junior, you're given me the chills."

"But in a good way right babe?"

"I'd say your flirting's being met with an icy reception," Talon muttered under his breath and Artemis perked up and looked at the teen. Was that…was that a pun?

"I'm more concerned about this Tigress," Tommy continued. "How come the Terror Twins ain't never heard of her before?"

"You know we can hear you," she grumbled.

"Oh, I do missy," he smirked, "these are open questions ya see."

She rolled her eyes, turning to look at the trio of idiots, "So, which one of you wants to ask your open questions of Black Manta?" Tommy's smile faded as she continued, "Which one of you wants to suggest to the big bad, that his son and his son's hand-picked right hand can't be trusted?"

"Ouch, need ice for that burn," Talon snickered.

Artemis barely kept herself from smirking as the other villains jumped, clearly startled by Danny's comment. Though, she did frown when the twins turned their attention to the teen. "And what of this Talon? How come we've never heard of the—!"

Tommy was cut off as a cut appeared on his cheek, the culprit appearing as a knife embedded into the wall behind him. "If you would have heard of us before, you'd be dead," Talon snarled, his blue eyes narrowing before he turned back to his station.

Artemis watched as Junior turned to the twins with a nervous look, "I told you not to antagonize him," the cryokinetic hissed.

"Why?" Tuppence whispered. "Not like he can hurt us."

They icy villain smacked his forehead, "He's a _Talon_ from the _Court of Owls_! Do you know what they can do?! Trust me, don't antagonize him."

Her brows furrowed and she turned back to her station, glancing at the teen to her left. She remembered hearing about the Court when she was little from the nursey rhyme, but her father never really elaborated on them. Though, from Danny's comment earlier, perhaps there was a reason he never said anything.

"Perhaps we could focus on the mission now?" Kaldur spoke up, ending any other conversation that could've taken place. "We are approaching our target."

-.-

**El Paso, 18:18MDT **

Talon crouched on a ledge watching the two young heroes do…well he wasn't too sure what they were doing. They had been destroying rocks for no reason, and now the speedster had created an image of himself in the dirt. What purpose was this exercise supposed to serve? Destroying the rocks didn't appear to provide any sort of training in attack. Blue Beetle used the same attack each time, he didn't try to adjust as needed to build up his strengths and fix his weaknesses; no precision attacks, no large attacks, just a generic one. He guessed the speedster art had more use than that. At least then it was working on coordination and memory, he supposed.

Seeing a shadow in the air, he narrowed his eyes as Tuppence launched herself at the target. Landing on Blue Beetle's back, the pair slammed into the ground, destroying the self-portrait much to the speedster's dismay.

From his left, Tigress launched herself at him only for the teen to duck out of the way and slam straight into the male Terror Twin. As he flew in the air, Tigress fired a net, catching him and Talon made his move. Sprinting out from the shadows, he tossed a frost ray, covering the speedster in an extra layer, trapping him to the ground.

"Hold him steady!" Junior ordered as the twins struggled to maintain a hold on the struggling hero. "Now move!" They moved out of the way as Icicle fired, covering the hero in a layer of ice.

"BLUE!"

Talon threw a knife, satisfied as the escaping speedster yelped as the blade nicked his leg. Behind him, Blue Beetle broke out from his confinement, forcing the assassin to jump out of the way, or get blasted back like the twins and Junior. Lunging at the target, Talon threw a knife at his prey. At the same time, Beetle raised his own blaster in response, firing a staple and Talon's arm jerks back as it was pinned to the ground.

"THEY CAN'T FOLLOW US! LET'S BOOK!" the speedster exclaimed and the duo took off into the night.

Growling in frustration, Talon ripped the object pinning him down out of the desert soil, tossing it aside. "You ok?" Looking up, he saw Tigress standing over him, holding out a hand.

"Fine," he muttered standing up under his own power.

"That's just great chief! They got away with the tracking box! Now how do we find Beetle?!"

Talon looked at Kaldur, watching his expression. For just losing the tracker, he seemed pretty collected. Unless, he smirked, the one they stole was a decoy; which was proven as Kaldur held up another device.

"If you had another one of those gizmos why didn't ya just say so?" Tommy grumbled from his seat.

"It is not the same," Kaldur answered, "this one confirms the first device acted as a Trojan Horse. Impulse brought it into the Cave, where it remotely hacked and bypassed all security. Mt. Justice is ours."

-.-

**Mt. Justice, 21:05EDT**

"Recognized: Blue Beetle—B24. Impulse—B27."

"HA HA! LEFT THEM IN THE DUST!" Bart cheered.

Dick raised a brow, walking towards the newcomers. "Left who in the dust?" he questioned, frowing as he caught sight of something in the time traveler's hand. "And what is that?"

"Souvenir!"

"Souvenirs are Beast Boy's thing ese," Jaime stated.

Bart raised a brow, "Really, cause I thought it was—"

"Can we get to it?!" Nightwing interrupted, crossing his arms.

The boys looked sheepish, "Sorry, Aqualad attacked us with Icicle Jr, the Terror Twins, and two ninja people I didn't recognize; one boy one girl."

"This is how they tracked Blue," Bart continued holding up the device, "I made sure they couldn't do it again."

Dick wanted to facepalm, "So, you brought foreign, possibly alien, tech into the cave? Rookie mistake!" He gave a sigh, running his fingers through his hair, was this how Bruce felt when they first started the Team? If so, he owed his adoptive father years' worth of apologies. Holding out a hand, he motioned to Impulse, "Give it here."

The teen handed it over and Nightwing stalked away, hopefully he could run some scans before something undoubtedly happened. Or at least retrieve any possible intel Kaldur and Artemis may've stored on it, cause so far his search into the Court of Owls was going nowhere.

-.-

Talon crawled out behind Tigress as they entered the secret base from the kitchen vent. Holding up her hand in a signal to hold, she snuck over to the couch, pulling out an inhibitor collar and patching it on the massive white wolf lying on it.

Looking to Amaya, she nodded and lead the way through the hall. Creeping around a turn, he saw three figures standing in a large room. One was the target, the other was the speedster, and the last, Talon grit his teeth, Nightwing, of course.

"Ugh I'm an idiot!" the black-clad hero growled, turning and ended up getting slammed by the body of one of his teammates as the Terror twins and Junior began to regroup with them. The speedster ran up the wall, knocking Junior out of the way before running back down and slamming right into Tuppence. Her brother picked the speedster up and he tried punching him, only to groan and hold his hands close to his chest.

"Ah, my hands! What're you made of?"

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails," Tommey snickered and Talon rolled his eyes, jumping over the super-idiot and strapping an inhibitor collar around the speedster's neck so he wouldn't be an issue anymore.

"Ha, nice try , but I'll just virbate right outta this…no speed. I'm moded aren't I?"

In reply, Terror punched the teen across the room, his unconscious body, sliding across the floor next to Superboy, whom Nightwing was pushing off of him.

Scowling, Talon sprinted forwards, roundhouse kicking the hero in the face as soon as he got to his feet. The man stumbled, not quite losing his balance till he flip-kicked him. Nightwing's head snapped back, and he slammed onto the floor, grunting as the young assassin landed on his chest.

The sound of an inhibitor collar activating make Dick roll his eyes behind his mask. "Sorry, no superpowers for your collar to shut off," he smirked. Lifting his legs, he wrapped them around the teen's neck and swung them down, the boy releasing a pained grunt as they changed positioned. Raising his fist he looked down at the teen, "You'll thank me for this later—GAH!"

The inhibitor collar around his neck sparked to life and the hero fell down, holding his neck as he was electrocuted. Looking up, Talon glared at Tigress as she held the button activating the collar. How disgraceful, needing help from a complete stranger. His teacher would've severely punished him for something so pitiful. Talons don't get help, they don't need it, least of all against someone who betrayed them.

Kaldur's voice reverbierated around the room, "STAND DOWN! This battle is over."

"I DON'T THINK SO TRAITOR!" the target snarled raising another plasma cannon.

"Beetle," Kaldur knelt down, opening the duffelbag and revealing the bomb within, "this is the same type of bomb that obliterated Malina Island. I am holding down the dead man's switch. If my thumb leaves this button, _for any reason_, Mt. Justice falls."

Looking up at the target, Talon frowned as he watched him seem to have an internal debate. Odd for a hero to seem to debate sacrificing lives. He muttered something under his breath, deactivating his weapons and landing, hands raised in the air. "We're standing down."

"Wise choice."

Tigress, clasped the inhibitor around the target's neck, stepping back as Junior slid down. "I'm fine by the way."

"Good, escort Beast Boy, Impulse, and Beetle to the flier."

"What about these two?" Tigress questioned, motioning to the remaining heroes.

"As hostages here, they have value," Kaldur replied, "but Nightwing is an ordinary human. Superboy, a human-kryptonian hybrid. Neither category is of interest to our partner."

Nightwing got to his feet with an enraged glare, "AQUALAD, YOU'LL REGRET THIS!"

Talon pulled out a blade only to be stopped by Tigress as Kaldur calmly strode forwards. The assassin smirked as he had a front row seat to Kaldur punch the Bat in the gut. "I believe I have outgrown the name: Aqualad. As well as anything that might resemble regret. I'll leave the bomb with you, as a souvenir. Oh, and the dead man's switch has a five mile radius; do not pursue."

Motioning to grab the prisoners, Talon, grabbed Beetle by his collar and shoved him forwards. The young hero stumbled, glaring back at him before he reluctantly began walking as the twins grabbed the other hostages. Leaving the mountain, they walked towards the flier, Junior growling as the target gean trailing to a stop at the sight of the flier waiting for them in the water.

"Move it bug!" he grumbled pushing the hero forwards.

"Not much choice is there?"

"None at all," Junior replied.

Beetle activated his weapons and slammed Junior aside. He ran at Tigress hitting her, and Talon, flipped up, using his grapple to put some distance between them. Sliding across the sand, his eyes widened as he saw Kaldur get hit back by a blast, causing him to release the switch.

"No!" Beetle exclaimed, turning with wide eyes. "It was a bluff!"

Beetle charged forwards and Talon lunged. Kicking at the blue-armored hero, he raised his hand, grabbing his ankle and throwing him. Flipping in the air, his hands slid across the sand and he landed in a crouch, racing forwards as he leapt at Kaldur again. Manta's son held out an arm, his electrified hand coming into contact with Beetle, causing the hero to scream. Seeing his chance, Talon jumped again, delivering a roundhouse kick with as much force as he could muster, causing him to stumble back as Tigress fired a sedative, the dart landing in the center of his exposed chest.

"I was not certain that would work," Kaldur huffed getting to his feet, "but it seems Blue Beetle is indeed vulnerable to mystic energy, and sedatives. Bring him aboard."

Getting on board, they hogtied the prisoners and took to the air.

"Can't believe we didn't end Superboy when we had the chance," Tommy grumbled.

"Boss man still has a soft spot for his old team," Icicle sneered.

Scowling, Talon threw a knife between the pair, causing both men to jump as the blade appeared as a silent warning. Turning back to Kaldur, he saw him sharing a look with Amaya. "Do it."

She took off her mask, looking uncertain, "You sure?"

"Do it."

Amaya sighed and pressed the trigger, blowing up Mt. Justice as their prisoners screamed in horror.

-.-

**Hall of Justice, March 24, 02:25EDT**

Dick sat in the library looking through the drive Kaldur slipped him during the raid on Mt. Justice. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he pressed his lips together as he absorbed the new information as to why the attack needed to be made. Some still doubted Kaldur, even after "killing" Artemis. But, at least one upside to the disastrous attack, heavy on the dis, was that they now had a way to Track La'Gaan, and no doubt Beetle, Impulse, and Garfield. They could rescue them before any serious damage or worse occurred. He pressed a button, scrolling to the next file of information.

And his world dropped out from under him.

**Alias: Talon/Gray Son  
First Name: Daniel  
Last Name: N/A  
Affiliation: Court of Owls  
Age: 14  
Intel Obtained:  
Multilingual—English, Esperanto, and Romanian  
Skills/Abilities: Acrobatics, Knife Throwing, Stealth, Cryokinesis, Accelerated Healing, Enhanced Strength & Speed, Hand-to-hand Combat, Sword/Knives**

**DNA Sample**

His gaze flickered between the second alias, the name, the age, the languages, and the skills. There…there was no way. He looked over the data again, the air starting to feel thin. The name, the age, the skills…it couldn't be.

With a shaky hand, he tapped the DNA sample, and began running it through the database. He felt torn, on one hand, he didn't want there to be a match, but on the other hand, if it was, then…then that would mean he found him. After almost ten years, he would've found his baby brother.

The monitor beeped, the green words s_can complete: match found_ flashing on the screen. His shaking hand stretched forwards, confirming to reveal the data.

Dick had to stumble back and sit down as he choked on a sob. He found him, after all this time he found him.

"Recognized: Kid Flash—B02."

Dick squeezed his hand into a fist as his best friend approached with a glare. He couldn't let Wally see him like this right now, he just needed to explain why things went the way they did.

"What happened?"

"It was necessary," he replied, not bothering to look up.

He tried not to grimace at the bite in Wally's voice as he spoke again, "It better have been. Spill."

"Aqualad needed to find a way to help us rescue Lagoon Boy. He injected a microscopic tag into La'Gaan's bloodstream, and he used the raid on the Cave to pass along essential intel. A flash drive with, among other things, tracking software to let us track La'Gaan," he replied.

"That's not all he did."

Dick clenched his fist tighter. He really didn't want to do this right now. Not after…not after learning that he'd been _so, so_ close. Danny had literally been standing right in front of him. And he let his little brother slip through his fingers again. "He had to make it look good. He put inhibitor collars on us but he knew I'd get them off."

"He took three more hostages! Members of your team!"

"And we'll rescue them when we rescue La'Gaan," he said, refraining from adding his brother to the list too. Wally was going through enough worrying about Artemis, he didn't need to stress his friend out further with his problems.

A hand grabbed the front of his shirt and for the first time that night, he was forced to look Wally in the eye, "DICK! HE BLEW UP THE CAVE!"

"It's all on the flash drive," he defended, shoving Wally off him and slamming his hands on the table in frustration. He had to get it together. Now was not the time to be losing his cool. "He knew I'd have to pursue to make it look legit. He gave us time to get out. We just…we just go caught in the debris field from the explosion."

"Do you even hear yourself? Did you even think what would've happened if even one of you had been left behind?! Why take that risk?! Why take such extremes?!"

"The drive explains that too, he—he needed to cement his position with the Light and their partner."

"Wasn't that why he 'murdered' Artemis?" the redhead scoffed.

"I—I guess it didn't convince everyone."

"YOU GUESS?!"

"THE CAVE WAS JUST A PLACE!" Dick exploded whirling on Wally. "WE HAVE BIGGER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT THAN YOUR LOST SOUVENIRS!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I'M WORRIED ABOUT ARTEMIS!" he screamed back. "TERRIFIED FOR HER! YOU PUT HER RIGHT INTO HIS HANDS!"

"Wally we're talking about Kaldur here!"

"Yeah, Kaldur, our friend, who—in the space of a few months—lost the love of his life and discovered his father was Black Manta. Isn't it possible that Aqualad might actually be a traitor, a triple-agent? He's supposed to be playing them. But are we really sure he isn't playing you?"

"I know he isn't! If he was why wouldn't het just kill me and Conner?!" he retorted. "We need him! We need him to stop the light, their partner, and rescue La'Gaan Beast Boy, Beetle, Impulse and Danny!"

Wally opened his mouth to respond, only stopping when he processed all of what Dick had said. "Danny? Your brother?" he questioned furrowing his brows. The speedster sighed, running a hand through his hair, tiredly. While oftentimes he found Dick's optimism to be handy in rough situations, when it came to his brother…Wally just found it depressing. Not that he had the heart to tell him, odds were, that the younger sibling was likely dead. But it wasn't like he could just tell him his brother was dead.

"Dick…you're not thinking straight. You probably have a concussion from the explosion. Danny…he's…" he trailed off not sure how to finish his response without possibly breaking Dick; especially so close to the day his parents were murdered and his brother vanished off the face of the Earth.

"HE'S ALIVE WALLY!" Dick exclaimed. "I can prove it." Stomping to the monitor, green eyes widened as he saw the flash drive's data. "Danny's alive, Wally. I've fought him, Talon. I was right there! And I…I failed to save him," he sat back down on the couch, trying to keep himself from breaking down, "I was right there, and I let him slip away."


	6. Please

Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello! Glad y'all liked the last chapter, thanks for the reviews. As always, I just own the story, nothing else in mine (sadly).**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is vidcoms"**

**"jkhbaf [English]" is languages & translations**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Pacific Ocean, March 30, 18:28HAST**

"Your ship is most impressive ambassador," Kaldur spoke as he, the Reach Ambassador, and Talon strode through the ship, "as are your people."

"We call ourselves, the Reach. And these are our labs," the Ambassador spoke as they turned a corner, "dedicated to studying the human metagene."

"Metagene?" Kaldur questioned sharing a glance with Talon who merely shrugged.

"A genetic marker, indicating the potential of an individual human to survive catastrophic physical trauma by simply adapting new abilities."

"So basically it causes superpowers?" Talon said. "Cool."

Kaldur looked at the boy as they walked into one of the labs in surprise; that was probably the most normal comment he'd ever heard from him.

"Kaldur'ahm, Gray Son, this is the scientist in charge of all metagene research."

The red-clad woman turned around, her frown turning into a smile. "I understand you two are responsible for providing several of our test subjects. Gratitude."

Rolling his eyes, Danny walked over to the pods, stopping in front of an unconscious boy in a red beret. Turning away, he looked down the line, frowning as he saw Shimmer in one of the pods. What did she do to piss the bosses off?

"I assume it would interest you to know that in this lab we are attempting to isolate the metagene, by stimulating potentially dormant powers in average humans."

"But La'Gaan already has powers," Kaldur spoke up, standing in front of the Atlantean prisoner. "He is Atlantean, hardly an average human."

"Ah, but," the scientist began, "his powers are based on training and sorcery, beyond that he is an average Atlantean. Is he not?"

Kaldur frowned as he found himself unable to respond, she did have a point.

"How about a demonstration?" the scientist asked walking over to her station. Picking up a swab she walked back over, holding it up. "May I?"

"Certainly," Kaldur responded opening his mouth and letting her swab his cheek. Once she finished, she walked over to a machine, depositing the sample and the Atlantean turn-coat's brows shot up as he saw his genome being displayed on the screen. "As you know, your powers are from training and sorcery, which gives you your powers and abilities. If you had a metagene then there would be a flashing marker," she grabbed another swab, stepping up to Talon. "May I?"

The teen tossed a wary glance at him, and Kaldur nodded in affirmation that he would handle whatever fallout happened due to the Talon acting on his orders. Daniel removed his mask, opening his mouth and letting her take a sample before covering the lower half of his face once again.

The scientist put the sample in and Kaldur watched as a second genome file appeared beside his own for comparison. Already, he could see multiple distinctive colored markers in Talon's sample that his didn't have.

"Yes, now, as you can see, the Gray Son has these metagene markers that you lack, allowing him to survive almost impossible situations," the scientist spoke before perking up and scrolling between several markers. "See the difference here?" she pointed to different colored markers, "These indicate an active metagene verses an inactive one. It's these markers that we test for, and if inactive ones are found, then we need to determine the right set of stimuli to activate the gene."

"Interesting," Kaldur remarked barely keeping the edge from his voice. He knew what she meant by _external stimuli_, she meant torture; cause from the sounds of how the metagene worked, then a life-threatening situation was needed to activate it. It was important information he'd have to pass to Dick asap; especially so they could find a way to determine how exactly they were locating the most probable targets.

The woman smiled, leading the way to another room, "And this is where we study humans with active metagenes and how they handle different levels of…stress," she said looking to Impulse and Beast Boy, both of whom were crying out as they were tortured. "The goal is to see if their abilities can be extracted or duplicated."

"You're weaponizing it," Talon spoke, an edge to his voice Kaldur furrowed his brows at. The assassin almost sounded…wary. Looking to the teen, he looked anything but wary. In fact, Kaldur could swear he could see the downright fury in his blue eyes. He must've figured something out. The corner of his mouth tilted up, good. Now he could question Talon when they left and gather the intel.

"You never mentioned they were clever." The group walked to another door, where the scientist strode inside before turning around. "A pleasure to meet both of you."

The door closed on them and Kaldur frowned, so much for getting the location of all the missing Team members. "I assume Blue Beetle's inside this third lab?"

"That particular laboratory does not concern you or your masters the Light," the Ambassador growled, "and frankly, neither does Blue Beetle. He may be human, but he is of the Reach."

"Remember Ambassador who's planet you're on," Talon threatened, pulling out a blade. "Remember, the Light is allowing you to hide your fleets and assist in the kidnapping of humans. I doubt that'd go over well with the public if they found out." The Ambassador glared down at Gray Son. He opened his mouth to rebuke when a blade was pressed against his throat. "Your gratitude for even being able to come to our world should be given to our masters. Without them, the people would've found you out and turned on you quite some time ago." Making his point clear, Talon lowered his weapon, stepping back beside Kaldur. "As for the next shipment—that you need us to get for you—Kaldur's SIC is leading it. They'll be here soon."

The Ambassador scowled again, stomping down the hall, leaving the two Light agents standing in the corridor. "Talon, you should not have provoked the Ambassador like that," Kaldur scolded as blue eyes met his own with a glare.

"He has forgotten his place," the younger assassin hissed. "Besides, it's not like we're working with them forever."

"True, but we must cooperate till the time is right," he nodded. "What did you deduce while we were in there? You seemed tense when the weaponization came along."

Gray Son narrowed his eyes, "In order to weaponize something, you have to know how to control it."

Kaldur raised a brow, "Or in this case: control the human populace," he said getting a nod in return. "Good work Talon, we will inform the Light of our discovery, it should allow them to create a counter for whatever method they plan to instill."

**-.-**

**Starr City, 21:57PDT**

Robin, Batgirl , and Nightshade landed on some crates wearing civies while Bumblebee landed on the Boy Wonder's shoulder. Below them, they could see a cage containing a group of people surrounded by Manta's men.

"Let us go!" one of the hostages demanded.

Tigress strode up, barely giving the complaining prisoner a glance before looking to the men. "Bring out the pods! Now!" she ordered. "Get them open! We're on a schedule and Kaldur'ahm does not tolerate delay."

Seeing their chance, the small group made their move, landing in the cage with the others. There were several gasps and a couple began to speak as Barbra shushed them. "We're here to help."

"Why should we trust—" a blond girl stopped talking as they watched Bumblebee fly into Tim's jacket. "Ok, we trust you."

"One per pod! Move!" Tigress ordered.

The gate of the cage opened and troopers began yanking people out, shoving them into the pods. Not giving any resistance, the covert squad got in, letting the metal doors close around them as the sub rose from the depths by the pier.

"Boat 'em and float 'em!"

-.-

Behind the sub, the Bioship followed in camouflage mode. "Good, they're leading us to Lagoon Boy and the others," Dick said watching the tracker with bated breath. Yes, the would find the others, and with them, hopefully, he'd find Danny.

"How can you be sure?"

"Wishful thinking."

"And the abductee shipment at the docks, how'd you find out about that?" Wonder Girl questioned.

"Aquaman found out about it while searching for La'Gaan," he lied. In reality, Artemis told Wally, who'd told him, and in return the speedster had informed the blonde about his missing brother.

Coming over a ridge, they saw the sub approaching a ship hidden inside the trench.

Taking a breath, Dick leaned back crossing his arms. "So, this is the Light's new partner?" he grumbled. "That ship bears the same alien design set as the bombs that destroyed Malina Island and Mt. Justice."

"Kinda reminds me of Blue's armor," Cassie commented and Dick frowned, thinking back to the last time he saw Blue. Comparing the armor style to the ship, Dick found himself agreeing with Wonder Girl; there were striking similarities.

"Miss M, you're up."

The Martian girl relinquished the controls, her uniform shifting into a more water-suited one as gills appeared on her neck. She lifted her hood, going into camouflage mode as she density shifted out of the Bioship and into the ocean water around her. The pressure made her shrink down to a more suitable size to avoid pain, once getting that out of the way, she swam towards the ship.

_"Alpha squad, I'm heading into the alien ship, are you aboard?"_

_"Yeah,"_ Nightshade replied.

_"We're in some kind of docking bay,"_ Batgirl added as they watched the pods move around them. _"We have visual on the aliens, aka the Krolotains' competitor, aka the Light's partner."_

_"More bad news, we've got company: Aqualad. If he makes us, we're over."_

_"Let's not forget that assassin buddy of his,"_ Robin added, _"He's probably been working with Kaldur long enough to know who we are."_

Dick released a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. He was here. Danny was _here_, on the ship. _"Stay whelmed, he won't be looking for you. Just don't attract attention."_

_"I've found on Gar and Bart,"_ M'gann informed, _"they're unconscious but alive. No sign of Jaime or La'Gaan."_

_"We've got eyes on Lagoon Boy,"_ Batgirl commented. _"And…Shimmer?"_

_"Not to mention five civilians and all the teens we came with,"_ Nightshade added watching the scientists leave. _"We're unsupervised now, we should get started."_

_"No!" _Batgirl protested, _"escape could trigger response, and we still don't know where Jaime is. Should we wait?"_

_"Negative Alpha, make your move before you need rescuing too. Same goes for you M'gann. Get our boys."_

-.-

Talon frowned behind his mask as the alarms began going off. To his right, he saw Tigress move, waving out an arm to stop on of the men. "Hold your position trooper!" she commanded as they stepped forwards.

The trooper, in turn, grabbed her arm and hurled her down the hall.

Talon's eyes widened and he lunged as the traitor was distracted by the other soldiers. The soldier turned to punch him and Talon grabbed his arm, grimacing behind his mask. This guy was definitely not human. Not even the others serving the Court could actually resist his strength—and they'd all been properly adjusted.

It was obvious, he wasn't going to win this test to strength. But a test of wits on the other hand…the Gray Son twisted his foot, his eyes developing a slight blue glow as ice spread out on the floor around them. The trooper slipped, his armor was meant for water and land, not ice. Talon immediately took advantage of this stumble, twisting the intruder's arm and swinging him over his head onto the ground, cracks froming in the ice from the impact. The trooper attempted to swipe his legs out from under him, not counting on Talon had been expecting the obvious move. Leaping up, the assassin gave a roundhouse kick to this imposter, knocking his helmet clean off.

It revealed the culprit as the Superboy.

Talon cursed in his mother tongue. If _he_ was here that meant the rest of the League's sidekick squad was here as well; along with the traitor most likely. Reaching into his belt, Talon through down a smoke bomb and made a strategic retreat, he needed to find Kaldur now.

Running down the hall, he skid to a stop as the prisoners were escaping, alongside Bumblebee. Thinking quickly, he whirled on his heel and sealed the way to the hangar in a thick layer of ice; hopefully that would delay the clone, and with it the prisoners.

He whirled back around, hurling a blade towards Bumblebee. What he didn't expect was a Batarang to intercept it halfway to the target.

Great, now the Bats were here too. Looking among the group of teens, his gaze settled on two in particular: a redheaded girl with green eyes and a black-haired boy with sunglasses on indoors. Yep, definitely Batgirl and Robin respectively.

Lunging at them, he slid under two more bat-themed weapons before hurling his own blades at the Bats. They flipped out of the way and Bumblebee flew towards him in a small blur. Raising a hand to freeze her in the air, blue yes widened as a vine wrapped around his arm.

The next thing the Gray Son knew was that he was slamming through his own icy barrier. Rolling to his feet, Talon glanced around. On one side stood Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Nightwing; on the other, stood the rest of the heroes plus the prisoners.

Even with his training, even with his powers, the odds weren't in his favor for this battle.

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE, LET'S MOVE!" Wonder Girl ordered and the prisoners began to run as the heroes split into three groups: Batgirl, Bumblebee, and Robin to handle the Reach troops heading their way, Wonder Girl to escort the prisoners onto the ship, and Superboy and Nightwing to deal with him.

"Go help Robin and Batgirl, I've got him," Nightwing spoke. The clone looked uncertain for a moment before he nodded, running to go fight Tigress as she began to get to her feet. As Nightwing turned back to him, Talon lunged.

Thrusting his blade forwards, his eyes widened as the he was slammed onto his back, Nightwing looking pained as he straddled him. "Danny, te rog, nu face asta [Danny _please_, don't do this]."

**A/N: hey guys! Happy New Year! Now, I know this chapter's a little short, and…that's cause I wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger. Anyways, I'm happy to see all the reviews and I'll see y'all next year for the next chapter!**


	7. What Was Lost

Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey y'all! Welcome to the new year! Anyways, remember, I just own this story, nothing else is mine, sadly.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is vid-chats"**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**"hjdb [translation of foreign language]"**

**Pacific Ocean, March 30, 19:05HAST**

"Danny, te rog, nu face asta [Danny _please, _don't do this]."

Blue eyes widened and Talon stared at Nightwing in horror. How? How did the traitor know his name? Those in the Court already knew his name, but they never called him by it, they referred to him by his title: Talon or the Gray Son. No one outside of them should know it, not unless he told them explicitly and he's never told anyone except…except Tigress. She was the only one who's he willingly gave his name to.

Amaya betrayed him, betrayed Kaldur. She was chosen as his right hand and she _betrayed them._

With an angered shout, Danny sent an ice-covered fist into Nightwing's jaw, sending him flying off. Taking the opportunity, he sprung to his feet and threw an icy blast across the room, creating a barrier separating the prisoners from their escape.

It didn't last long as green vines coiled around the ice and crushed it. The girl responsible, gave an angered growl, swinging the plants around and throwing troopers into one another like they were nothing.

Movement flash out of the corner of his eye and Talon rolled out of the way as a bo-staff swung right where he had been previously standing. Reaching over his shoulder, Talon pulled out his katana, leveling it at the Boy Wonder with a glare.

The pair lunged at each other and Robin parried a strike, grimacing as the force rattled his arms. Behind tinted glasses, blue eyes widened as feet kicked him in the gut, knocking the air from his lungs as the assassin used him as a vault. Flipping away from him, Tim leapt to the side as several gold daggers flew his way.

He grimaced as one grazed his shoulder, but vaulted back as a sword swung towards his head. Thankfully at this point, Dick stepped in, parrying with his nightsticks. Which meant he could now help Barbra and Cassie with the kidnapped kids.

Nightwing attempted to sweep the his brother's feet out from under him, only for his head to snap to the side as the younger acrobat kicked the side of his head. Placing a hand on the ground, he used the momentum to take him into a cartwheel, wincing as he felt Danny's arm get snapped aside by his legs.

God, he felt terrible for hurting his baby brother, but right now, Danny wasn't exactly willing to listen to reason.

Continuing the motion, Dick swung his legs down, swiping Danny's feet out from under him. The younger Grayson grunted as the air was likely knocked from his lungs at the impact.

Unfortunately, it didn't incapacitate him as long as Dick hoped it would. Talon somersaulted to his feet, placing his hands on the ground and releasing a sheet of ice that formed under their feet. Dick found himself losing balance at the sudden loss of traction, and he grunted as pain came from his abdomen.

Glancing down, he grimaced at the sight of the dagger embedded in his stomach. Seems Danny had taken advantage of his lack of balance; he grunted to himself, seems like something Bruce taught him at somepoint. Was it bad that somehow he felt slightly proud of his younger brother for that?

Dick didn't have long to ponder his situation before he was slammed to the ground. Danny sat on his chest, hatred blazing in his blue eyes as he held up a knife. Behind his mask, Dick tried to blink away unshed tears of pain; not cause of the wound in his stomach, but for his brother.

Danny had been so bright and happy as a kid. He loved the stars and flying with the family through the air for their acts. The brothers often found themselves staring at the night sky together telling spooky stories to each other when their parents thought they were asleep.

Now, he found himself looking into the eyes of a teenager who'd had everything ripped away from him: his family, his life, his freedom. Whoever took Danny that night had turned him into _this_, a killer, an assassin who believed that he—his own brother (though he didn't exactly know it as far as he was aware)—was a bad guy.

And now, Danny was likely going to kill him. And Dick would never have the chance to protect Danny in the way he failed to do so all those years ago.

"Danny vă rog [please]," he tried once more, "Sunt eu. Este Dick fratele tău. [It's me. It's Dick, your brother]."

For a moment, Dick felt hope bloom in his chest as Danny froze. Blue eyes looked over him, wide with a mixture of emotions he couldn't decipher.

Only he didn't get the chance to try to persuade him further.

A green vine wrapped around Danny's wrist and the teen was yanked off him and hurled into a wall by Nightshade. The impact left cracks in the hull, but right now Dick was more worried if Danny was actually alive—Nightshade wasn't exactly the most gentle of heroes. Scrambling over, he gave a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. He was alive, unconscious, but alive.

"The link's down! I'm going in!" he heard Conner call before he was suddenly tossed across the room.

Turning to the door, Nightwing narrowed his eyes as he took in their opponent. He was tall, ridiculously buff—must've been on Venom or some similar steroid—and he wore black armor that bore a disturbing resemblance to Blue Beetle. "Apologies _meat,_" the Beetle sneered, "but no one goes anywhere."

Without a second thought, Dick grabbed his brother's unconscious form and he leapt into the Bioship as the doors closed behind them. Looking back at the sealed door, a heavy weight settled in his gut; he _left_ Superboy, Robin, Batgirl, Wonder Girl, La'Gaan, Nightshade, and Bumblebee, plus two civilians _alone_ with _that_! Slamming his fist on the door, he tried to get in, to no avail.

-.-

"Listen, uh, Black Beetle!" Wonder Girl exclaimed pointing to their trapper, "You're outnumbered. Open those doors now and we'll go easy on you."

"_You_ will go _easy_ on _me_?" he laughed, standing to his full height as the scarab's spines on his back grew.

"Oh that is not a good sign," Bumblebee grimaced.

"No kidding," Nightshade agreed. Thrusting her hand forwards, several vines wrapped around Black Beetle's limbs and she tossed him towards Superboy and Lagoon Boy. Smirking to himself, the Kryptonian clone punched Beetle in the face, allowing Wonder Girl to go in and grapple him from the back as Bumblebee flew around, stinging him. Lagoon Boy joined in, punching him from the other side.

It was about then things started to go wrong.

Beetle grabbed Wonder Girl's leg, hurling her into Batgirl, causing both girls to slide across the floor and slam into the wall. He then swatted La'Gaan and Superboy aside, causing one to hit the wall as the Kryptonian wiped his lip growling as Beetle began to turn on Nightshade. Charging towards him, he attempted to punch him, only to get slammed back, creating a crater in the ground.

Wonder Girl vaulted over his shoulders and tried to punch him, grimacing as her arm was grabbed hy his hand. Seeing her comrade's plight, Nightshade turned from where she was moving her unconscious teammate behind her and sent several vines wrapping around his arm, forcing him to let go of Cassie. Unfortunately, she didn't get to his other arm in time as he punched Wonder Girl in the jaw, sending the now unconscious girl sliding across the floor. Sending more vines out, she began to drag Cassie over before she had to use a flower to catch Bumblebee before her form could hit the ground from when Beetle knocked her out of the sky.

What she didn't expect was Shimmer to try attacking her. Springing back out of the way, she used a vine to wrap around the insufferable villainess's throat and hurled her into Black Beetle's electrified cables that he was firing back at Batgirl and Robin. She screamed as she was caught in in, passing out and collapsing to the floor, allowing the Bats to flip out of the way. Movement came from her right and she glanced at Conner and Cassie, smirking as they began to get back to their feet. While she knew he vines wouldn't hold the Beetle for long, she could at least throw him to male her friends' punches really hurt.

Using a particularly thick set of vines, she wrapped them around Beetle's torso, throwing him towards Superboy and Wonder Girl. They leapt at the same time, punching him in the face and sending him flying into the door, making a dent in the metal.

Beetle growled, a weapon forming on the end of his hand as he aimed it at them.

Nightshade's eyes widened behind her mask, and used her thicker vines to shield herself, the civilians, and her unconscious teammates. She grunted as several staple like materials slammed into her protection, the sharp ends barely poking through.

"Robin's down!"

Looking his direction, Nightshade swung her metal-reinforced vine, slamming it into Black Beetle and knocking him back. "We've got ugly, you get Rob!" Wonder Girl said and she nodded. Sprinting over to the Boy Wonder, she began to carefully weave her plants through the material trying not to hurt her teammate. With as much force as she could, she yanked the staple out, allowing Robin to drop to the floor.

"Superboy!"

She groaned, great, another one down. Seems like all she was doing this battle was playing medic. But, it wasn't like there were too many plants in this place for her to use. She dragged Conner and Tim over, lying them next to La'Gaan and Bumblebee.

_"Ugh! Can't you at least get the link back up—oh, nevermind. Now come on! We're sealed out of the docking bay. What's going on in there?!"_ Beast Boy demanded.

_"Don't know,"_ Nightwing responded, _"I'm cut off aboard the Bioship."_

_"That's cause you were evacuating an unconscious kidnapped teen,"_ Sam replied, having just glimpsed the Team leader gram someone that was probably another of the teens they came with.

_"We're fighting Black Beetle. Nightshade knocked Shimmer out—for now—but Lagoon Boy, Bumblebee, and Robin are already down—CONNER LOOKOUT!"_

_"Superboy's down, it's just me, Wonder Girl and Batgirl,"_ she informed joining the battle.

_"We've got to get in there!"_

_"What? How?"_

_"How? What do you mean how? Density shift!"_

_"Right! I can do that, I can still do that."_

Nightshade rolled under another swing from Black Beetle, using a vine to throw him over her shoulder and onto the ground. What the heck did M'gann mean by that? Was she hurt?

There was the sound of something changing and she cried out as a sonic blast sent her flying into the wall. Landing on her knees, Nightshade panted, that was going to hurt in the morning.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" Cassie screamed.

"Shifted the density of the door, wasn't quite prepared for that was she? But don't be jealous, I can put you half way through the door too. Half way, the hard way."

"Shit," she cursed getting to her feet. Miss Martian was down and Wonder Girl was under attack.

As Black Beetle began slamming her teammate into the door, Nightshade thrust her hand out with an angered shout. The two civilians behind her gave startled cries as the ship rocked below them, and before their eyes small spouts of seawater formed as the seaweed and kelp forced their way inside. Wrapping around Beetle, she gave him the same treatment her friend had been receiving. She swung her arm, slamming him into a wall across the room, before hurling him to the other side. She threw her hand up, some darker side of her feeling satisfied at his grunts of pain as she repeatedly slammed him into all sides of the room, the walls, the floor, the roof; she didn't care as long as he paid.

Seeing the door begin to open, she hurled him towards if, forcing Blue, Beast Boy, and Impulse to duck as Black Beetle soared over their heads.

"Nice one Nightshade," Impulse nodded as Beetle opened the bay doors, allowing the civilians to scramble inside.

"Little brother," a familiar growl came and they all turned to Black Beetle who flew back into the room wearing an enraged look, "one way or another I'm putting you back on mode. You are of the Reach, and cannot escape it."

"What kind of bullshit is that?!" Nightshade snapped hurling another vine at him.

Turning his weapon on her, Black growled, "You are becoming a pain meat." A blast fired at her, forcing the plant-themed heroine to dodge before she got blasted.

To her left, she could see Shimmer getting back to her feet. Growling, she looked back at Black, smirking as she saw Blue fighting him. Good, she could remove Shimmer and go back to helping kick this racist piece of shit's ass. Racing over, she gave a roundhouse kick to the girl's face, causing her to stumble back and rest her hand on the side of the hull. The area around it began growing and Nightshade barely had the time to yank herself up from the ground as water gushed in, sending Shimmer flying back. Placing herself just above the burst, she began to weave kelp, seaweed, and any other debris her plants outside could grab to try and stem the flow.

"I don't know how long I can hold it!"

/Nightshade! Get back to the Bioship!/ Nightwing ordered.

Growling, she swung inside, landing in the water as the hatch sealed behind her. "What about Blue?!"

"We can't save him if we drown!"

The Bioship jerked from the docking bay, causing the passengers to stumble as they began to weave through the water. "I've got Blue's signal!" Batgirl called.

"La'Gaan!"

"On it!" he said racing into the hold.

A few minutes later, he returned with an unconscious Jaime in hand.

"So, hi?" Turning, Nightshade raised a brow at a bow in a red beret stood next to her. "Nightshade right? Name's Tucker Foley, or TF as in Too Fine."

She groaned, rolling her eyes, this was going to be a _long_ flight.

-.-

"Mission accomplished," Dick sighed standing up from the helm, "care to take over the controls Miss M?"

He frowned when she didn't respond, staring off into the ocean passing them by. "Uh, she must still be basking in victory," Beast Boy quickly said. "She totally nailed Aqualad, you should've seen it! Well, it didn't look like much, but I bet it was very cool inside their heads!"

Dick sighed, leaning back into the controls, tapping them anxiously. Hopefully Kaldur was alright, but M'gann didn't hurt people when she invaded their minds, just brain blasted them—unless they were Psimon of course. But of course, now that meant she was aware of the plan they had going. He supposed on top of rehabilitating his brother sleeping back in the hold he'd have to find a time to talk to her about that as well.

-.-

**Bludhaven, March 31, 10:30EST**

Dick Grayson ran a hand through his hair nervously as he paced his living room. He honestly should've told the others about Danny, but…but he couldn't. Not yet at least.

A knock came to his door, and he stopped, watching as Wally let himself in with a worried frown. "How is he?"

"Who?" he dumbly asked before, grimacing, "Oh…he's still out. I kinda sedated him back on the Bioship. Didn't expect him to be asleep this long."

Wally nodded, watching the acrobat pace. "Ok, but is he hurt? Do we need to get Dr. Thompkins?"

Dick once again ran a hand through his hair as he sat down, his leg shaking. In all honesty, they probably needed to get her. When he'd been changing his brother's clothes it'd been painfully obvious that whoever took him, tortured him. Reaching to the coffee table he grabbed Cujo, staring into the green plush's button eyes as worries and questions ran through his head.

What if Danny was seriously injured and it never healed right? How many broken bones did he have? What did those bastards do to him that made him develop superpowers? Who were the Court of Owls? Why did they take his brother? How did Danny even get superpowers? Did the Reach do it to him like those other kids? What did they do to make him hate Nightwing so much? Did Danny even remember him? What if he didn't? What would he do then?

"Dick," Wally spoke up forcing the elder Grayson out of his thoughts, "you ok?"

Looking down at the plush, he debated on responding when he was saved by a barely audible groan from the other room. Danny was waking up.


	8. Memories

Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys, welcome back to Talon. Hope y'all're ready for the next chapter. Now, it might be a little short, but I do hope it meets your expectations. Remember I just own this story, nothing else is mine. I don't own DP or YJ.**

**/comms/**

**"uhvs [translation]."**

**_telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Bludhaven, March 31, 10:30EST**

Warm. That was the first thing Danny registered as consciousness began to return to him. It was warm. How long had it been since he felt warmth? He wasn't sure he could remember.

Now that he thought about it, it didn't feel like he was lying on his normal hard berth either. It was soft, practically trying to swallow him and take him back to the comforting darkness of slumber.

And he almost let it too. Not till he heard hushed voices murmuring from somewhere. Dark brows furrowed and he rolled away, stirring a little more as the sensation of his bangs tickling his nose and something soft pressing against his cheek began to reach him.

It was then, he could feel other sensations that drug him further into consciousness. His whole body ached, it felt like he'd gone against all the others Talons again. With eyes still closed, he hissed through his teeth as his fingers brushed over a particularly sensitive spot around his ribs, covered by bandages that now felt like they were restricting his breathing.

Did he break a rib? Taking a slightly deeper breath, he felt some pain, but not enough to signal his ribs were currently broken. They were probably just sore; the joys of accelerated healing.

What the hell happened?

Blue eyes slowly blinked open and the Talon groaned as he sat up.

This was not his room. He didn't have a room until Manta's crew, just a cryo-tube; and even then he left his room bare. This room was colorful. Pale blue covered the walls, making the various posters and photos hanging from the wall stand out. A dark nightstand was sitting to his right, and there was a dresser with a tv on it across from him beside a desk. By the closet door, he could see a bookshelf.

But none of that told him where the hell he was.

Against his better judgement, the teen began to breathe faster as a terrifyingly familiar sense of panic began to overtake him. Looking to the window, he could almost swear he saw the form of his master outlined against it as he was on the night the Court took him.

He didn't like this, no, he hated this, Danny hated not understanding what the fuck was going on. Where the hell was he? Hoe did he get there? What the fuck happened?!

The door creaked open and he scrambled back, fear overtaking his logic as whoever took him entered. "Danny?"

The Talon froze, he knew _that_ voice. Nightwing, he'd been taken by Nightwing. The _traitor_. The one who scorned the Court by refusing their offer to become a Talon; who chose to become a hero instead.

Looking around, he felt dread as he saw his odds were getting lower by the moment. He had no weapons, his escape was likely blocked (curse Bats and their infernal planning), which meant he had only his powers to rely on. But considering he didn't even know where he was, he wasn't sure if using his gifts would be deemed too risky.

The door opened all the way and the Talon found himself looking not at Nightwing, but at a similar-looking man with black hair, pale skin, and familiar blue eyes just a few shades darker than his own.

_"Sunt eu. Este Dick fratele __tău. [It's me. It's Dick, your brother]."_

The memory of those words washed over him like a blast of arctic air. What…what did he mean? Last time he saw…last time he saw…

Blue eyes landed on a familiar poster, and the teen barely suppressed a violet flinch as he remembered the sound of something breaking, a sickening crunch, followed by the sound of screams.

It…it couldn't be…could it?

"Danny?" he spoke softly again, taking a slow step forwards, hands held up to show he was unarmed. "Sunt eu. Este Dick fratele tău. [It's me. It's Dick, your brother]."

"No," he whispered, shaking his head. This…this couldn't be real. It had to be another test. The Court never released their Talons, not even in death.

They were just testing him again. Ensuring his loyalty. They had to be. Dick…Dick left him. He left him alone; he abandoned him. That's what his teacher had told him repeatedly. He had to be right. The Court was always right.

And yet the pain in the other man's voice kept making his heart scream otherwise.

It hurt. He didn't like feeling his heart. Unlike the other Talons, he knew he was weaker. They were heartless; he just learned how to use his heart _less_. It was the only way he could properly serve the Court the way he'd been trained to do.

He knew what they wanted him to do. But he couldn't. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't kill Dick. Even if he was a figment of his imagination.

God, his teacher and fellow Talon would have him reconditioned for this behavior.

"Nu Nu! Nu esti real! [No, no! You aren't real!]," he exclaimed, scrambling off the bed and backing away. His back hit the wall, and his legs shook, giving out from under him. Pain spread through his body as he collapsed to the carpeted floor.

His whole body was shaking, but whether that was from fear or exertion he didn't know. It was obvious that he hadn't eaten anything in a little while considering how soon he collapsed—though considering he'd been unconscious for an untold amount of time that wasn't shocking. But, on the other hand, the Talon _really _didn't want to go back to conditioning. Even now, through his current pain he could feel the ache of old scars he'd gotten from there.

"Danny." He froze as Dic—Nightwi—the traito—this man crouched in front of him, concern blatantly obvious in his darker blue eyes. "It's me," he spoke again reaching out a hand and Danny flinched away as if he'd been burned when warm fingertips brushed against his arm gently.

This…this was real. But who was in front of him? Nightwing, the traitor, his enemy? Or Dick, his brother, the one who left him?

Across from the teen, Dick felt his heart clench as he observed the obvious terror in what were once bright blue eyes. What did they do to him? Danny didn't even believe he was real. And that flinch, it was painfully obvious Danny had expected to be hit or punished in some way.

Without thinking, Dick pulled his baby brother into a tight hug. Squeezing a little tighter as he felt Danny's startled struggles. Tears began to stream down his face as his fingers brushed over scars slipping out from under the bandages he'd wrapped earlier.

Fuck the no-killing rule. Whoever did this was going to _pay_, _dearly_ for hurting _his baby brother_.

Danny, on the other hand, remained frozen in the tight grip surrounding him. He didn't know what to make of it. The last time…the last time he had one of these was the night…the night…Unconsciously he squeezed his eyes shut and pressed closer to the man seeking comfort like a weak child as the sounds of breaking bodies and screams echoed around him.

"I'm so sorry," his captor whispered, his grip getting tighter. "I should've never left you alone that night. It's all my fault…this is all my fault Stea mică. If I'd been there…" the voice was chocked of with a soft sob.

The Talon remained completely frozen as he felt something wet drip onto his bandages. That name…there were only three people who knew that name. Two of them were dead.

But…that would mean…

His hand rested on something resting on the floor by his leg. It was soft, slightly squishy; so it wasn't a weapon. He pulled himself back, barely noticing that he'd been released as he stared at a green dog plush in his hands.

_"D'ck?"_

_Turning around, the boy's eyes widened as his little brother sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly with one hand, and tightly clutching his stuffed dog Cujo in the other._

_"__Unde te duci [Where are you going]?"_

_His brother didn't need to know about this. It was his job to look out for him now, and he wasn't going to rest while the man who took their parents away was out there. "__Catre baie. Mă întorc curând, mă întorc la culcare Danny. [To the bathroom. I'll be back soon, go back to bed, Danny]"_

_"__Nu vreau să fiu singur [I don't want to be alone]!" the small child protested climbing out of bed, clutching the stuffed animal tightly. __"__Ce se întâmplă dacă nu te întorci ca Mami și Tati [What if you don't come back like Mommy and Daddy]?!"_

_"__Voi reveni, promit__ [I'll be right back, promise]," quickly going to his bed, he grabbed his own stuffed animal off. "__Aici ia Zitka, ea te va supraveghea în timp ce eu sunt plecat__ [Here take Zitka, she'll watch you while I'm gone]."_

_His little brother pouted for a moment, reluctantly taking the stuffed toy and climbing back onto the bed. "__Promite-ți că te vei întoarce__ [Promise you'll be back]?"_

_"__Promisiune."_

_As his brother left the room, the five-year-old settled back in bed, his small arms tightly holding the two stuffed animals close to his chest as he tried to ward off the fears coursing through him. What if…what if Dick didn't come back? What if he went away like his parents did? Then he'd be all alone. Danny didn't want to be alone._

_Small tears began to dampen his pillow at the thought. He wanted Dick to come back. He was scared that the bad man would come back and take him away like he took their parents._

_Hearing scratching outside, the small boy sat up with wide eyes, looking towards the curtained window. Through the drapes he could make out a shadow, one whose fingers seemed sharpened into claws._

_With a small cry, the boy scrambled out of his bed. Hiding under it, he held Zitka and Cujo closely, hoping they'd protect him from the monster outside. More tears streamed down his face as the window opened with a grating sound, sending a blast of cold air throughout the room._

_The small child shivered violently in a mixture of fear and cold as he watched dark feet stride across the floor towards his brother's bed, the floorboards hardly even creaking with each step._

_That terrified him more, those boards always creaked. It was how he knew Dick had been getting out of bed. It was like the monster was a ghost. Could he even hide from a ghost?_

_A small whimper escaped his throat and his heart stopped as the form whipped around to face his bed. Knowing he'd been discovered, Danny started sobbing for his brother, closing his eyes and holding the stuffed animals close. Danny didn't want to be here. He wanted his mommy and daddy. He wanted their stories, and their tricks, and their lullabies. He wanted his brother and his jokes. He wanted to go back home._

_The monster appeared before him, and Danny scrambled back, tears running down his face as he gave weak cries of fear. He pressed his back against the wall, wishing he could go further. _

_He wanted his mommy and daddy. They always scared the monsters away._

_Gold eyes met his own as the monster stared at him, yanking the terrified child out by his leg. Danny opened his mouth to scream, but, to his horror, a gloved hand covered his mouth and nose, cutting off his air supply as the monster loomed over him menacingly. "You're not the one I was sent to get. But you'll do."_

_That was the last thing he remembered as the monster pulled out a needle and jammed it into his neck._

**A/N: hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what y'all think. Anyways, I'll see y'all next time. And just fyi, my spring semester just started this week, so expect updates to take a little longer.**


	9. Foiled Plans

Chapter 8

**A/N: hey y'all. Back for another chapter. Now, I know y'all have some questions and I'll explain. **

**For those who aren't sure if this is really a DP/YJ xover. ****_Be patient_****. I have a plot worked out for this story. More elements of DP will appear as the story goes on. I'm just an author who doesn't like immediately jumping in without giving context.**

**As for Danny's reaction. Don't worry, once he gets over his initial shock of being taken against his will (again), he'll react more…you'll see. Last chapter was mostly to express what he was feeling as he was orienting himself with the situation (considering he couldn't really remember; Sam threw him really hard); and to show what happened the night he was taken. So it was more of a filler anyways cause I wrote it at like 2am after classes, studying, etc. Sorry.**

**Ok, enough of my rambling. Hope that clears things up. On with the story.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Bludhaven, March 31, 11:05EST**

Dick was caught off guard as he was suddenly pushed away. Landing flat on his back, he stared as his brother glared at him a familiar rage returning to his eyes.

He wasn't dealing with Danny right now, it was Talon.

"Nu, acest lucru nu este real [No, this isn't real]," Danny hissed raising his fists as he settled into a fighting stance glaring at the traitor. Anger began to burn through him as he looked over the figure more. It was obvious. He should've seen it sooner.

Amaya—she betrayed them. She told Nightwing who he was. And he'd fallen into the trap hook, line and nearly sinker.

This was a trick to get him to let his guard down; to make him weak. To use the one who'd abandoned him against him, like the Court _always_ said they would. It was likely a coincidence they looked alike. It'd been years after all. And he'd been too _stupid_ to realize it. "Încerci să mă păcălești [You're trying to trick me]."

"Danny," he whispered shaking his head, slowly starting to get to his feet, "Nu. Nu este un truc. Sunt eu. E Dickie. [No. This isn't a trick. It's me. It's Dickie]"

"Mincinos [liar]!" Danny snarled lunging at him.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the speedster standing beside the traitor in his rage. He grunted as two arms wrapped around his arms, trying to pin him in place. "Hold it kid! We're on your side!"

Blue eyes narrowed and Wally almost swore he saw them change color for a split second. In that moment, Wally screamed as the teen gripped his arms with inhuman strength, turning his arms in a direction they were not supposed to turn as Dick's younger brother forced his arms over his head before pushing down and kneeing him in the face. The ex-hero collapsed to the ground, dazed with blood gushing out of his likely broken nose.

Trying to orient himself, green eyes could only widen as an icy blade began to form in the assassin's grip. He was so not feeling the mode.

To his relief, Dick came from behind with a nightstick, forcing the assassin to duck the hit and turn his attention back on his primary target: his own brother.

Dick, meanwhile, cursed under his breath. In all his excitement about having Danny return, he hadn't stopped to think about what could happen. And, more importantly, he forgot about his fucking cryokinesis!

He ducked under another swing of the crystalline blade as it slashed right through where his head had previously been. Throwing out a fist, Dick punched his younger brother in the gut, causing the young teen to fold in on himself. Though, what he didn't expect was Danny to roll with it. The teen placed his hands on the ground and handsprung over him before landing in a crouch and swiping Dick's legs out from under him as he tried to get up.

Blue eyes widened as a icy blade swung down towards him and Dick grabbed his brother's arms, trying to keep the blade away from his throat. But, unfortunately, Danny definitely had been…changed by whoever took him. He was strong, strong enough to make Dick's efforts to stop the weapon almost futile.

Fortunately, Wally tackled the assassin off him before those efforts went to waste. Scrambling to his feet, Dick reached to grab a nightstick only to be slammed back as Wally was tossed into him. The two friends fumbled over each other, looking towards where the teen had last been. Only to find curtains billowing in the breeze of an open window.

-.-

Leaping off a roof, pale, ungloved hands grabbed onto a flagpole, using it to swing the Talon onto the fire escape on the next building. "Huh, that flagpole thing works," he muttered settling into a crouch on the hidden escape.

Blue eyes looked over his surroundings warily. He was definitely in an American city; Bludhaven most likely since that was where Nightwing had set up shop after leaving the safety of his mentor's shadow and opening the path for more apprentices of the bat to come through.

Brushing the infuriating situation aside, he leapt up to the fire-escape across from him, using it to climb the taller building to gain a better vantage point. He reached the top, climbing up over the ledge and took in the city. Well, his first guess was definitely right, he was in Bludhaven; which was good, it meant he was close to the Court.

"Daniel." Blue eyes widened and the teen whirled on his heel, eyes meeting the familiar form of his mentor, his teacher, his great-grandfather, William Cobb. The older Talon hopped down from his perch, tossing a spare uniform his way. "You were a fool to get yourself captured. I trained you better grandson."

Not bothering to meet gleaming eyes of the golden mask, he slipped the uniform on quickly. "Nightwing caught me off guard. It won't happen again."

Even though he couldn't see the other Talon's eyes, he could tell they were narrowing behind his mask. "The traitor? I warned you about him," the man snarled. "What did he say?"

"He pretended to be Dick," Danny answered, trying to keep his voice steady, "just like you said they would."

"Let's get back to the Court, they'll need your report."

-.-

**April 8, 05:34EST**

"Obviously and partnership between the Reach and LexCorp is bad news," Nightwing said turning to face the team. "So Alpha Squad is going undercover to recon LexCorp Farms. Robin, you'll be running Alpha."

"M-Me? Run Alpha?" Tim stuttered. "Uh, right. Who's on the squad?"

"Nightshade, Blue Beetle—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I should not be in the field esse!" Jamie protested. "What if the scarab goes all Reach apocalypse on us?"

"Your scarab has had multiple opportunities to betray us, it hasn't," Nightwing replied. "And right now it's connection to the Reach may be our best shot in figuring out what they're up to."

"Well if Blue's going, I'm going!" Bart said throwing a arm around Jamie.

Dick smiled lightly, "I assumed as much. And last but not least, Arsenal. But you'll have to travel lighter for your first mission. Nothing that won't fit under civilian clothes. Any questions?"

"Just one: Why are we meeting in this dump?" Roy sneered.

"With the Cave and the Hall of Justice out of commission we don't have many other options."

"Except the Watchtower," he countered. "It's national news now. You can't pretend it doesn't exist!"

"Only Justice Leaguers and senior members of the team have clearance. You don't qualify," Nightwing answered.

"Good to know where we stand."

-.-

**Smallville, April 9, 08:15EST**

"Please remain seated at all times while the tram is in motion," the tour guide said as the tram drove into one of the greenhouses, grinding to a halt. "We've just entered one of our farms hydroponics domes, where LexCorp and the Reach are growing the food of the future!"

"This gonna put Smallville's farmers outta business," a man grumbled crossing his arms.

"No, no, no! Not at all!" the lady reassured. "The Reach plans to share their techniques with the entire agricultural community!" She motioned to a series of tables set in front of them. "Please, enjoy a piece of the Reach's enhanced produce!"

"Genetically enhanced?" Sam inquired crossing her arms.

"There's been no tinkering with genes here! The Reach has a way of drawing out an organism's full potential!"

Robin and Jamie each took a sample, placing it in a bag as Bart took a bite out of one. "What? I'm maintaining cover?"

"I can't believe you'd actually eat one of those corporate driven products, they just care about quantity not quality," Sam retorted crossing her arms. "Despite what she says it's only a matter of time before all the farms are forced to sell out into the big man and made to produce this e_nhanced_ sludge!" She growled. "Watch." She strode over to the the tour guide, tapping her shoulder. "Those tubes? What's in them?"

"Just water, nutrients, and a little Reach/LexCorp love."

"So what's the Reach/LexCorp love made of," she pressed. "Cause naturally organic materials would not turn the water purple. Are we sure this is safe for the environment?"

The woman chuckled nervously, looking unsure, "LexCorp and the Reach would never use materials that would be harmful to our wonderful world! Now, everyone, our next stop is the pluat orchard! That's right folks! Pluat!"

Sam turned to the others raising a brow, "Point proven."

Tim nodded, "Time for a bathroom break."

"Thanks, I went before I left," Bart started before Jamie grabbed him and dragged him off.

"But they don't have pluats in the future!"

"Gee! I wonder why?!"

-.-

**Western Mongolia, 17:09UTC**

"State your grievance Sportsmaster," Savage ordered.

"Manta's son, Aqualad, killed my daughter Artemis without my permission. As the Light's enforcer I expect reparations."

"We grieve with your loss," Luthor spoke, "and we offer substantial monetary compensation."

"And normally I'd be fine with that," the mercenary shrugged, "but this goes to the heart of my rep! word gets out I took a payoff, then I look like a cheap punk!"

"Then what do you suggest old friend?" Savage asked.

"You know the code: an eye for an eye, a kid for a kid."

"No one touches my son!" Black Manta snarled.

"Agreed," Savage concurred. "The death of Kaldur'ahm is a nonstarter."

"Fine," Sportsmaster growled. "If the minnow's under the size limit, I'll go fish for the whale." Hurling an explosive a quick flash flew by, intercepting it halfway, causing it to explode midair. Turning on his heel, Sportsmaster found Deathstroke and Talon standing in the doorway. "I see you didn't waste any time hiring my replacement _old friend_."

"Fortune favors the prepared."

"You don't say," Sportmaster smirked as the wall blew in behind him. A helicopter came to a stop by the new hole in the wall and the mercenary ran for it. Leaping across, he ducked as two sharp gold blades embedded themselves in the metal hull. Sportsmaster turned on his heel and raised his arm to block the attack from the Talon as he struck. He tossed a leg out in an effort to knock him over but the teen jumped out of the way, delivering a spin-kick to his face. His mask came flying off and Lawrence growled kicking the boy out of the helicopter as he lunged.

Flipping in the air, Talon pulled out one of his longer blades digging it into the cliffside, slowing hom to a stop. The copter flew away with the new traitor, Deathstroke firing gunshots after it as it flew off into the horizon. With a growl, Talon climbed back up into the hold. Two traitors, things were definitely getting darker in the Light.

-.-

**Smallville, 18:35EST**

"Took you long enough," Nightshade said as she crouched behind some of the produce shelves.

"Sorry, team leader here wasn't exactly in the mode," Impulse said.

"Says that guy who forgot to put on stealth mode," Blue retorted.

"Now's not the time!" Robin hissed. "Nightshade, what've you got so far?"

"Not much," she replied. "I've been mostly relying on the plants to relay information to me so I don't get spotted on the cameras. So far, from what I've gathers that purple stuff isn't good news. It's an addictive additive."

"You got all that from plants?" Impulse muttered.

"The right kinds are more knowledgeable than you think," she said scratching a small flytrap as it grew from the brush.

"Cameras are down, let's move," Robin ordered.

The group ran from their hiding spot towards a trapdoor in the middle of the room. Gently opening it, they each hopped down silently, Blue carefully closing the entrance behind them.

Racing down the hall, they hid behind more plant counters watching Reach work with something. "What're they saying?"

Blue blinked, starting to translate, "Uh, ok, she's telling her people to go easy on the additive."

"The stuff Nightshade was talking about?" Impulse asked.

"Like I said, nothing safe would make the water purple," she replied.

"Got what we need," Robin said "let's go!"

They turned away, heading towards the exit. Peering around the corner, Robin took in the situation, "Two guards, one door hack and we're free."

"Cause a power outage and I could get us out through the roof before anyone would know what happened," Nightshade offered.

Robin nodded, pulling out his hologlave when Arsenal put a hand on his shoulder with a smirk. "Wait for it…"

An explosion rocked the building and the alarms began to go off as smoke began to rise from the labs. "You blew up the labs?! What were you thinking?!" Robin hissed.

"I wasn't about to let Luthor and his space buddies poison the world cause we don't know exactly what poison they're using! Plus, I enjoy making Lex miserable."

"You dumbass! You're gonna get us caught!"

Impulse ran out slamming one of the guards into the wall before Nightshade took out the other using a vine to toss him across the room.

"You just don't get it do you? You went off mission! That was a huge mistake!" Robin growled as he began hacking.

"Funny. I was about to say the same thing," Black Beetle chuckled.

He slammed down onto the ground, forcing the teens to dodge out of the way. Ducking under a swing, Robin pulled out his bo-staff and activated the electricity, slamming it into Black Beetle's chest. His opponent shoved the rod down, causing the end Robin hled to go flying up into his jaw. The teen stumbled back from the unexpected blow, only to be hurled across the room into one of the growing shelves.

Impulse raced past Black Beetle as he approached his downed teammate. Punching the massive man, he wove between the pillars before coming around for another attack. One, that was foiled as he collided with a metal clad arm, sending him into the tomatoes.

"I may not move as fast as you, meat," Black snarled, "but my scarab processes faster than even you can run. Let alone think."

A rocket hit the Reach's enforced in the back and he turned to see Arsenal aiming his arm at him. Stomping towards the new hero, he stopped as something slapped on his back. Turning around, Black Beetle found himself being pelted by tomatoes.

"Now, that's just a waste of good fruit," he growled as Impulse hit him in the face.

"Sure about that?" Nightshade snarled. Vines came to life from the tomatoes on Black Beetle's armor, wrapping around him. One vine covered his eyes, and he attempted to rip it off only for another vine to replace it. Even then, he felt more plants curling around and encasing his armor. And with every vine he broke, another took its place.

"Fighting dirty meat?!"

"Who ever said anything about fighting fair?!" Blue Beetle commented. Firing his plasma cannon, Blue grimaced as the vies burned away, leaving Black still standing. That was so not supposed to go that way.

"Ah, nothing like a warm plasma blast to calm the nerves, and get rid of the tomatoes."

Growling, Blue Beetle switched to his sonic blaster. Firing it at Black, it was met with an equally powerful blast. The two attacks remained at a stalemate, pushing against each other before bursting apart.

"Seriously? The fruit hurt more." Impulse ran out, racing around Black. "Trying to Suck away my oxygen? I hardly touch the stuff."

"Blue, what gives?! Last time you threw down with this guy you were hard core!" Robin exclaimed.

"That wasn't me! The scarab is in control!"

"So give it control again!" they exclaimed.

-.-

**Atlantic Ocean**

"My son, I've brought visitors," Manta spoke opening a door. Leading the way into the room, the supervillain laid his hand on his comatose son's shoulder. "Robbed of life, or a noble death. I will have my revenge on the Martian witch that did this."

"As a father myself I understand your pain," Savage spoke.

Talon pulled out a knife, looking down at Kaldur. "Do you wish for me to handle her?"

"Not yet Talon," Savage replied. "The opportunity for revenge will come, but in the meantime, let's focus on making Kaldur'ahm whole again. I've borrowed Psimon from Queen Bee for you and your boy. He'll sift through Kaldur'ahm's mind for every fractured memory, every buried thought. By the time Psimon's work is complete, your son will be whole and Psimon will know more about Kaldur'ahm than his own father."

Behind his mask, Talon smirked. This was good. He couldn't go to the bosses without evidence of Tigress' betrayal. He have to know where Kaldur met Tigress, see if there were any hints that he might've suspected she was a traitor. Or worse, known she was and said nothing. Which would mean Kaldur was betraying them as well. And with Psimon checking things over, he'd be certain of such.

"Talon," Manta spoke gaining the teen's attention. "Find the Martian witch that did this, bring her to me, alive. I want the pleasure of killing her myself."

Talon's smirk grew to a grin. This was going to be fun.

-.-

**Smallville**

Robin and Arsenal dove out of the way of an incoming plasma blast. As Black Beetle prepared for another attack, he was forced to change tactics as Blue came down from above. Their scarab-swords clashed together as the teen feel. Flipping back, he parried another swing.

"You're just toying with us aren't you?"

"What gave me away?" Black smirked punching the weaker beetle back.

Blue slammed into the wall falling to the ground beside Impulse, whom started to regain consciousness. "Time to go?" the speedster asked looking to Robin as the Boy Wonder planted bombs on the wall.

"Yep. Do your thing."

Nodding, the speedster began to vibrate through the wall. Robin raced over to Blue, helping his teammate up. A crash came from the other side of the room, and Robin's eyes widened as he saw a large torrent of vines coming towards them. Several lunged towards Beetle, focing their enemy to try and blast or slice in incoming vines away as they came from all directions. Some wrapped around his legs, and yanked the enforcer off his feet.

Nightshade used her plants to hurl their opponent, towards Robin's bombs. They went off just as Black hit, sending the smoking Beetle skidding across the fields.

"Well done, but I doubt this battle will last much longer."

"So it would seem, a new voice spoke and the team's eyes widened as they saw another Beetle standing a few yards away, this one in green.

"How many colors do these guys come in?!" Impulse groaned.

"Too many." Nightshade hissed as she pressed back-to-back with her teammates as scarab-swords formed on the two Beetles.

However, instead of attacking them, the green on attacked Black Beetle. "Warrior! You dare attack me?! You scarab rejects are coming out of the woodwork tonight!"

"Better to be a reject than a slave!" the other retorted blasting Black back with telekinesis.

"Uh…this guy, not in the history books," Impulse remarked.

"Then who is he? What is he?!"

"Who cares! Right now, he's on our side!" Nightshade reminded.

"Density shifting, shape shifting, telekinesis, all the powers of a Martian except—" Robin was cut off as they all felt something enter their heads.

_"Heroes of Earth, I have telepathically linked us so we can coordinate our attacks."_

_"He's the Green Beetle of Mars!" _ Robin concluded.

"So another alien?" Arsenal scoffed. "Do we leave them to fight it out?"

Black Beetle blasted Green back through the corn, causing fire to spread around their savior.

"That answer your question?" Nightshade hissed.

_"Blue, Nightshade, keep Black Beetle Busy. Impulse, put out the fire! Arsenal, I want that plasma cannon out of commission!"_

_"Be prepared to move then!"_

Blue fired his staple-gun on rapid-fire. The staples slammed into Black, forcing him to raise his arms in an effort to protect himself. Vines emerged from the ground, wrapping around his legs and yanking his feet out from under him. The Black Beetle faceplanted into the dirt, grunted as a blast hit the plasma cannon on his back. Forming one on his hand, he fired in the direction of his attacker, forcing the teen to dodge. Robin, meanwhile, flipped over, throwing a batarang onto Black before disappearing in the brush. Black began to stand up only to be slammed to the ground again as the small weapon exploded.

Nightshade raced forwards, forcing more vines and plants to wrap around the Black Beetle as he attempted to rise. Chuckling, the beetle, tore through the plants. "You think your flimsy plants can hold me?" he laughed.

_"I was kinda hoping that's have a more lasting effect."_

_"Ditto."_

_"Your methods are crude, but you all have the right idea,"_ Green spoke. _"Beetle of Earth, fire your sonic cannon at 27 Amstrungs precisely."_

_"My scarab's telling me that tactic will be ineffectual."_

_"For one scarab that tactic would be ineffectual, but tonight there are two,"_ Green replied forming his own cannon and firing. _"Now!"_

Blue nodded and formed his cannon. Adjusting to the proper strength, he fired. Before their eyes, they could see the black armor start to peel away, revealing the Reach man inside before he collapsed.

_"Scarab says he won't be unconscious for long."_

_"That is true."_

_"So, what do we do now?"_

_"Now, we run!"_

**A/N: hey guys, I figured this would be a good place to stop for this chapter, since we all know not much else happens after this point. Anyways, don't worry, I'm not dead. Just dealing with some writers block and figuring how how to handle my college courses being moved online for the rest of the semester. So, let me know what y'all think of Nightshade? Just want to expand so of the DP universe in here, so don't be surprised if y'all start seeing more chaps involving others. **

**Welp, that's all for this chapter. Let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all next time!**


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